While Marvel Rivals saw its massive launch playercount fall significantly over the last year, its last two seasons, 5 and 6, have reversed the trend and helped the game start rising once more. Now, Deadpool has done what no other hero launch addition has: increased Steam concurrents by more than any other season launch.
The launch of Deadpool alongside season 6 has now taken Marvel Rivals to 200,000 concurrent players, up from season 5’s 160,000 concurrent launch, and higher than the lifespan-lowest season 4 at 132,000.
In fact, those numbers are the highest concurrent playercount that Marvel Rivals has hit in eight months, since April 2025. Deadpool has already drawn praise since his release this week for being one of the most fun, well-designed heroes in the game. He actually fills three different roles, and you can switch them mid-game if you want, rotating between Vanguard, Duelist or Strategist, depending on what the situation calls for. With many different abilities to align with these roles, he is effectively a 3-in-1 hero. Taunts, damage, healing, mobility, regen, shields, upgradable abilities. It’s a wild kit.
Last season saw the launch of Gambit and Rogue, who were also big draws, more so than season 4’s Daredevil and Angela. The other hero that will join Deadpool this season is Else Bloodstone, who will be one of the more obscure additions to Marvel Rivals for many, and she’s a vampire and monster hunter.
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Elsa Bloodstone
Marvel Rivals
Marvel Rivals was a rare PvP market entry that found huge success over the last year, and it may have been the only story in that vein, were it not for ARC Raiders becoming an instant hit with incredible player retention. But Rivals is still healthy, and NetEase has not taken its foot off the gas, releasing characters with breakneck speed. There are now 47 Marvel Rivals heroes, soon to be 48, up from the 33 heroes it launched with in December 2024. The goal is to continue releasing two heroes a season, which translates to one a month, while balancing them. For comparison, the rival it clearly aped, Overwatch, has 45 heroes as a game that launched in 2016. I can’t even calculate how many playable characters Marvel Rivals would end up with over 10 years if it keeps up this pace. It can’t, can it? Then forget Overwatch, it’s League of Legends (and then some).
But it’s all good news here in season 6. Given that the weekend has just started, I would expect to see that 200,000 concurrent number increase tonight and tomorrow, and we’ll check back then.
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