There have been a fair few battles in the gaming industry of late, with Palworld challenging Pokemon, Journalists facing off against YouTubers, and most recently, Marvel Rivals seemingly coming out of nowhere to jostle for Overwatch 2’s crown as the champion of hero shooters. In the latter case, it’s great for gamers, spoiling us with choices for free-to-play games for both casuals and pros alike. With the competition also comes the discourse, and while many are sounding the death knell of Overwatch 2, Blizzard has started to make its move on countering Rivals with significant changes in how Overwatch 2 plays, with gamers returning to the franchise. Let’s take a look at some of these changes, as well as the challenges both franchises face to vie for your attention.
Before we dive in, the data around player counts is very unclear, making it almost impossible to discern precise player numbers. I spent around 4 hours of time researching sales, player data, and Google trends while comparing player counts to websites like Player IO. The data is noisy, especially since Blizzard is tight-lipped about player counts on Battle.net, therefore, I can only run on calculated estimates with some of the information in this article. In the interest of being as accurate as possible, I won’t be resorting to comparing player counts of Overwatch Vs Marvel Rivals.
What we do know, however, is Marvel Rivals exploded onto the scene in December last year, rapidly reaching an install base of 20 million players in the first few months, and carving out a significant portion of Overwatch 2’s player base, shrinking the community by 40%. Blizzard would confirm that 17% came back to the game shortly after. This initial impact of Rivals caused gamers to assume the death knell for Overwatch 2 was coming, and Blizzard themselves seemed to reveal nothing about their plans to counter the unstoppable juggernaut that is Marvel. Marvel clearly needs no introduction, comic books aside, its cinematic universe absolutely dominated cinema over the past 17 years, with movies constantly hitting the billion-dollar in ticket sales milestone. The Marvel brand power alone would be enough to carve its way into the market, but Rivals also features fun and intuitive gameplay mechanics, even if Overwatch heavily influenced some of those elements. The brand power and gameplay would have a 2-fold effect, taking hero shooter fans away from Overwatch 2, while the brand power would have drawn an entirely new “Marvel Based” audience into the genre.
Blizzard didn’t immediately respond with a knee-jerk reaction which could have unintentionally isolated the player base, and instead took their time to counter with some balances, new planned features, and shaking things up by changing core gameplay elements such as adding in perks. Here are the major changes with Season 15:
Perks: Players can now earn perks mid-match. These perks can be subtle changes like increased damage on a particular skill, or even change the game up further by healing a percentage of damage for those extra heals to turn the tide of battle. They can also be used to counter other characters in the hands of a pro. You can’t change the perk once you’ve picked it, but they do reset with every match allowing for more flexibility in gameplay.
A fresh competitive year: A complete reset of the Ranked system, meaning everyone starts fresh on the leaderboard. Players will now be able to earn “Galactic” weapons as trophies to show off their achievements.
Loot Boxes return: When the return of loot boxes was announced, I thought Blizzard had lost the plot, but Loot boxes have returned and are fun and addictive to earn. Loot Boxes can be earned through various gameplay methods and events in the form of both standard and legendary loot boxes. I opened about 15 loot boxes and got some decent skins, but mainly a lot of sprays and voice lines which weren’t really up my alley, but it’s nice to get some goodies regardless.
There’s more to come too, and Blizzard seems ready to continue clawing back at Rivals, even cheekily promising to add a 3rd person mode and other features similar to the newest entry in the market. It’s a clever move, and a strategic one, slowly adding new features to keep re-engaging Overwatch gamers, rather than completely changing things and risking losing more players (like we saw with the recent Dauntless Awakening Update.) There’s a palpable sense of excitement and a somewhat cautious optimism about Overwatch’s future. Will we see the return of the cancelled PVE mode outside of the 3 missions that were released? Will we see more lore around the formation of Overwatch and the characters we’ve come to love? Will Mercy get a damage buff? We can’t be sure…
One thing is certain and it is that at the end of the day, Marvel Rivals is yet to prove it can hold players in the long run, and with the current state of the industry where “The next big thing” can sometimes only last a few months at best, Netease will have to invest a lot in competing against an incumbent game with a fiercely loyal fanbase. Netease seems to be ready for that battle, committing a 10-year development cycle according to a recent earnings statement released on the same day an entire Marvel Rivals development team was unceremoniously fired. The timing also coincided with Overwatch 2’s Season 15 launch, which could prove to be a thorn in Marvel Rivals’ Side. NetEase isn’t retreating with this move, as reported by Stephen Totilo from GameFile, NetEase is looking to pull international investments, meaning some 15 other studios are at risk with the plan to clean house. Further to this, Netease is now fighting on another front, with a 900 million dollar lawsuit filed by Pritanya media, citing alleged defamation, unfair trade practices, and interference with business relations as well as accusations of misleading investors. Netease has vehemently denied these accusations and will be continuing to fight the case.
In my opinion, this is a critical time for both franchises, both of whom suggest there’s room for both giants to eat at the table. While this is indeed true, the positives for players are that both games will fiercely compete with each other, and Marvel Rivals will have to keep pace with an entrenched franchise and established market share to dig in once it stops becoming the “next big thing.” The gaming community is a passionate one, and a lot of goodwill can be lost overnight, which we have seen at times with Overwatch 2, although they have managed to overcome a lot of those challenges. Season 15 is an answer to one of those challenges… a thought-out plan of attack to re-invigorate the player base, shake things up a bit, and ultimately prove heroes never die.
