Although it only released in December 2024, and is halfway through its first year, Marvel Rivals has changed a lot since its launch, having five new characters with Ultron on the way. With all the new maps, game modes, and an overall greater familiarity with the game, playing it in Season 2 is vastly different from Season 0. Despite NetEase being praised for its continual work on the title, it's not enough to maintain the game's outrageous peak of roughly 650 thousand players on Steam back in February, and the player count has been steadily declining since Season 2.

It should be noted that Marvel Rivals isn't some barren wasteland where it is impossible to find people to play with. Far from it, with queue times still being almost as quick as ever and content still coming thick and fast. The rate at which new skins are being developed is astounding, especially when compared to Overwatch, which many consider the title that paved the path for Rivals to be the success it is today. Still, with all the work NetEase has been doing, it doesn't seem to help maintain extreme numbers, and it isn't the studio's fault.

Marvel Rivals Has Hit A New Low With Player Numbers

And That Number Continues To Decline

According to SteamDB charts, Marvel Rivals has hit an all-time 24-hour peak low of 151,917 players on Steam. This doesn't take into the many console players; however, PC tends to be the home of the majority of shooter players for most titles, and it's safe to assume that Marvel Rivals is the same. This is less than half of the 315,196 24-hour peak near the start of Season 2 less than a month ago and follows a similar trend to the player counts of Season 1, except the overall numbers are much lower now.

Season 2 began with the Hellfire Gala, hosted by the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, Emma Frost.

In general, the player numbers tend to spike when a new Season starts, then slowly decline throughout the season, with the .5 'half-season' checkpoint having little bearing on boosting player numbers. Obviously, the big boom made by introducing a new season, including a new battle , characters, maps, events, and overall storyline are enough to entice players back in, but the branding of the half-seasons doesn't seem to have a similar effect. The problem is that Season 2 didn't draw nearly the same numbers of players as Season 1, and it also seems to be hemorrhaging players faster.

This can be for several reasons, the most obvious of which is the natural life-cycle of the game running its course. Games can't expect the massive numbers of players during Marvel Rivals' peak in February to still be interested in May, especially with how quickly the gaming industry moves. The gameplay loop isn't going to entice players forever, even with all the new additions, but there could be another reason for the decline. Having played since launch, I have noticed a growing controversy in Season 2 that wasn't as prevalent in Season 1, and this could be driving players away.

Marvel Rivals' Community Has Been Warring With Itself

A Battle Between Strategists And Duelists

Since Season 0, there has always been a divide between players of different classes, and this is only natural given how different the experience of each class is, but this reached a breaking point in Season 2. The growing tension between Strategists and Duelists resulted in a Strategist Strike, and the players of both classes seem to still be at each other's throats. It has resulted in a toxic experience in the game's competitive scene, which is typically where the core player base will spend most of its time, and that could be why people are leaving.

Necros, a streamer known for maining Spider-Man, made comments about Strategist players, which seems to be the inciting incident for the strike.

It should be said that I don't think I'm a great player, having only reached GM3 last season, which is a lot less impressive than it sounds, but seemingly the higher I climbed, the more toxic things got. Season 2 seems to have this toxicity throughout the ranks, and whenever I go to climb, I find myself exhausted by how heated things can get. I am equally comfortable with Vanguard and Strategist, and while the players who only play Duelist and Strategist are already prepared to have a shouting match with each other, I'm usually stuck in the middle.

It's an exhausting experience compounded by the strange nature of the match-making, which feels like it puts players in loser's and winner's queues. Losing four in a row only gets more depressing when the team are shouting some pretty heinous things at each other, claiming their jobs are harder when all are required to get the win. Winning the next four games on the bounce doesn't feel as rewarding when the games are over in a flash. The war between Strategists and Duelists is making what can already be a tiring experience far worse.

Player Numbers Dropping Is Natural But Could Be Concerning Soon

There Might Be Nothing NetEase Can Do

As stated before, players leaving a game is only natural, but the rate of players leaving Marvel Rivals could be more than that. Players could feel pushed out by the state of the community, which seems to have all the same problems as Overwatch's and League of Legends'. Although this isn't the majority of players, it only takes one player to shout slurs down their mic or type them in text chat to ruin the experience for everyone else, and NetEase might not be able to solve this. It isn't a technical issue, although technical problems are contributing.

The matchmaking needs to be fixed somehow, the performance-based points system didn't help, and the dive-heavy comp is making playing Strategist unbearable. Balance changes have come that should help, although they are too fresh as of writing to see their full effect. Realistically, the players need to realize that all roles are vital, and different people excel at different things. For instance, I didn't grow up playing shooters, but did play a lot of MOBAs, so while my aim often fails me, my positional awareness makes me a competent Vanguard and Strategist.

Hero shooters are more inclusive than regular shooters, with aim not being the most vital part of Marvel Rivals, given its diverse roster. Still, there seems to be an inherent elitism within the game's community that could be the reason many are leaving. It's certainly making me feel like I'd rather do anything else at times, and while the 150 thousand-plus players is still impressive, the decline could be concerning, with Season 3 not able to come soon enough to boost the numbers if Season 2.5 continues the trend of not spiking player numbers.

Source: SteamDB