I have played video games for most of my life, so I have seen games rise and fall over the years but the most recent game to take a meteoric rise is a new game called “Marvel Rivals.”
This free-to-play third-person shooter game, developed by Chinese company NetEase Games in collaboration with Marvel Entertainment, was released on December 6, 2024, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC.
Free video games are an interesting and bold business strategy that has worked very well in recent years, with titles such as the super-popular game Fortnite, which, at its peak, had 14,343,880 players worldwide, according to Fortnite.gg, the game’s official player tracker.
I have no problem with free-to-play games because, since the release of the PlayStation 5, I’ve seen the prices of other games increase significantly.
After only three days of release, the game had already generated 10 million players, according to an article by BrandVision Insights.
“Marvel Rivals” includes well-known characters such as Iron Man, Spider-Man, Captain America, Venom, The Hulk, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, and Wolverine, with many more coming in the future, according to a Feb. 1, Gamerant article.
I have been enamored with Marvel ever since watching the “Spider-Man” movie with Tobey Maguire when I was a kid back in the 2000s; the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been climbing its way through the box office since its debut with the first Iron Man movie in 2008.
As of January 2025, Marvel's Cinematic Universe had the highest worldwide box office revenue. Marvel's highest-grossing movie is “Avengers: Endgame,” according to a Jan. 6, article on Statista.
Unfortunately, Marvel's popularity declined before the release of “Marvel Rivals,” even with its high box office numbers over the past couple of years, it has dropped, according to a June 10, 2024 article in The Independent.
I don’t believe that is the case because the emergence of “Marvel Rivals” has seemingly revived many fans’ interest in Marvel.
The game does a great job of incorporating comics into its video game. The characters don’t just look amazing; they act, sound, and fight like their comic book counterparts.
I believe “Marvel Rivals” is just what Marvel and the gaming industry needed.
The typical Marvel comic nerd, like myself, just wants to see their comic brought to life in the most authentic way possible.
These gaming companies do so well with free games because the profit is earned primarily through in-game purchases by users, according to an article on Oct. 6, 2022 CNBC.
Much like “Fortnite,” you can buy various character skins to tap into your comic book or movie nostalgia, enhancing your gaming experience.
Celebrity video game streamers like Tyler “Ninja” Blevins help the games’ popularity, and he thinks “Marvel Rivals” success is here to stay.
“Here’s the thing – first off, they already have a new map coming, which is incredible. Second, they have so much lore and so many heroes, villains, and anti-heroes that they have enough for updates for the next ten years,” Ninja said in his stream, according to a Forbes article.
Marvel Rivals is dominating video game charts in 2025 with an explosive debut with over 640,000 players on PC exclusively on Steam, according to a Jan. 13 article by PC Gamer.
It's not just the iconic star power of Marvel's characters that draws vast numbers of players. The superpowers behind the success of the game are innovative gameplay, fair monetization, and community engagement.
I grew up more of a Star Wars fan, but in recent years, Marvel has released many more prominent films and overshadowed Star Wars to an extent.
With the recent lack of Star Wars films or video games, I’ve gravitated toward Marvel and its comic book heroes.
We live in a digital age where gaming is more mainstream than ever, thanks to technological advancements, improved accessibility, popular streamers, and the growing social side of online gaming.
I think Marvel has to tap back into what made them so popular in the first place: elite storytelling and character development.
Writers and developers should stick to stories based on comic books while integrating their creative ideas. The much-anticipated film Captain America: Brave New World will be released on February 14.
Marvel has continued offering high-budget projects and video games to entertain its fans for years.
