Marvel Rivals Loses 85% of Its Players

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Digital Phablet – One of the most anticipated live service games of 2025, Marvel Rivals, has experienced a significant decline in its player base on Steam, according to a Forbes report.

Initially hailed as a major hit and considered a rival to Activision-Blizzard’s Overwatch, the game has seen its Steam players drop dramatically—from a peak of 644,000 concurrent players in January 2025 down to just 98,000 this week, despite having been released earlier this year.

Marvel Rivals Loses 85% of Its Player Base

While maintaining nearly 100,000 players isn’t necessarily a bad sign, Forbes pointed out that the steady decline over recent months suggests NetEase might face challenges in sustaining the game’s momentum, especially considering ongoing production costs.

A potential resurgence in player numbers could happen if the game introduces more content and updates. To illustrate, Respawn’s long-standing battle royale title Apex Legends experienced its first significant increase in 2023, climbing from 117,000 players in 2020 to 330,000.

Referring to the chart above, Marvel Rivals has seen a steep drop in Steam activity since its December 2024 launch. However, it’s important to note that the game was also released on other platforms like PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, making it unfair to judge its overall performance based solely on Steam metrics.

When this report circulated on social media, reactions were mixed among gamers and fans. One user on X (formerly Twitter) questioned, “Are we really considering 100k players average now? Battlefield 6 is likely to drop to this level in about 10 months. This is common for most games today, not to mention the sizable console player base for Marvel Rivals.”

Another user clarified, “This number reflects concurrent players, not total players,” adding, “This is considered normal, even a positive ratio for many live service games.”

It’s typical in the lifecycle of live service games for the player base to diminish over time as players move on to other titles, lose interest, or seek newer experiences.

As social media comments reveal, the game’s declining numbers have sparked debate, but the overall trend is common in the industry. Maintaining a large, active player base over time remains a challenge, especially when players’ attention shifts across a competitive landscape of new releases.