The instant success of Marvel Rivals months after the disastrous launch and shuttering of Concord has players discussing what wrong with Sony’s shooter once again. Both games have been heavily compared to Blizzard’s hit hero shooter Overwatch, but Marvel Rivals’ stellar reception in a heavily saturated genre has the community debating Sony’s live service strategy.
Lessons Sony can learn from Concord’s failure and Marvel Rivals success
Players are pointing out that both F2P and hero shooter markets are highly competitive, and launching a new IP for $40 was recipe for disaster. The pricing strategy worked for Helldivers 2 because it offered something different. Meanwhile, Concord was stuck competing with games like Overwatch 2, which already have established communities.
Concord’s character designs have also come under fire again. The general consensus is that the game was visually unappealing, unlike its competitors.
Did Marvel Rivals benefit from brand recognition? Perhaps. But it’s worth pointing out that simply having “Marvel” attached to a game’s title doesn’t guarantee success, as seen in the case of Guardians of the Galaxy, Midnight Suns, and Marvel’s Avengers.
It also doesn’t hurt to launch live service games on more than two platforms when a vast majority of multiplayer games with sizeable communities also exist on the Xbox.
NetEase has announced that Marvel Rivals attracted 10 million players in just 72 hours. Besides its gameplay, mechanics, and presentation, the game has been lauded for a smooth launch.
I personally haven’t enjoyed a hero shooter this much since the original Overwatch, and appreciate NetEase for not restricting players to certain servers. Unlike in games like Valorant, I can join my friends in other countries for a quick match, and so far, I haven’t experienced any notable lag.
