Highlights
- Marvel Rivals’ closed beta attracts over 50,000 players, vastly outshining Concord’s peak of 2,388.
- The Marvel brand and free-to-play model drive Marvel Rivals’ success in the competitive hero shooter market.
- Concord’s future looks uncertain with poor pre-order numbers and a $40 entry fee deterring gamers.
In the most ultra-competitive hero shooter scene, there stands a new champion who has shockingly come to the top.
NetEase Games’ Marvel Rivals is still in its closed beta phase but utterly decimates Concord in terms of player count on PC.
Marvel Rivals Beta Smashes Concord in Player Popularity Contest
Marvel Rivals off to a Flying Start
Marvel Rivals launched its closed beta and, in only two days, it drew over 50,000 concurrent players on Steam. This is a far cry from how Concord performed.
Even combining its closed and open beta weekends, the best Concord could do was 2,388 players at its peak. This poor showing is concerning, especially with its official launch just around the corner.
The closed beta for Marvel Rivals will end on August 5th, 2024, so there is plenty of time to round up the players.
Early figures indicate that gamers would sooner be playing with iconic characters such as Iron Man than Concord’s arsenal of tomorrow.
Using the Marvel Brand
One of the strong reasons that contributed to Marvel Rivals’ success can be attributed to the reputation and popularity of the Marvel brand.
The Marvel universe is huge, with a corresponding fan following that wants to take charge of their favorite superheroes.
It need not be said that this is something new—an IP as strong as Overwatch helped, too. However, IP is not everything; for instance, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League failed to keep player interest warm despite having a really popular superhero team at the helm.
The Grin of Free-to-Play
The free-to-play model of Marvel Rivals is also responsible for its early success. With interest in live-service shooters seemingly on the downturn, having a free entry point does make all the difference.
Concord, on the other hand, requires a $40 upfront fee to even step inside its doors, despite touting free post-launch content.
Gamers these days generally don’t like spending their cash on new, unproven titles in such a crowded market.
Concord’s Problem
With a whole month to go before its launch, PlayStation and developer Firewalk Studios still have the opportunity to turn things around for Concord’s prospects. Of course, it would be a big milestone if it went free-to-play or was given to PlayStation Plus subscribers.
But quite poor pre-order numbers are ringing alarm bells, signaling a general lack of interest from the console audience.
If something major in the strategy doesn’t change, then it’s not certain that Concord will be able to make a turn for the better.
On the other side, Marvel Rivals is faring well during its beta phase. With the free-to-play game model and Marvel’s brand behind this hero shooter, it’s bound to make a clean sweep on the PC gaming landscape once it finally launches later this year.
In the contest to win the throne for a hero shooter, Marvel Rivals is taking the lead and rendering Concord in an uphill struggle.
This mix of the most favored intellectual property plus a free-to-play model becomes a winning combination, that warrants interest and loyalty from gamers worldwide.
