Marvel Rivals has managed to breakthrough in the cutthroat live service games space, even as some players complained about bots. It has become one of the most popular games on Steam, often finding itself in the top 5 most played games on the platform, while also finding an audience on consoles. This has led to Marvel Rivals bringing in over $80 million in its first month of availability.
According to Chinese publication Game Look, the game has seen most of its monetization success on Steam. Although it’s raking in plenty of cash from console players, too. It has brought in $54.5 million from Steam, $27.2 million from PlayStation, and $2.7 million from Xbox. It seems to be struggling mightily on Xbox compared to other platforms, which might stem from the smaller installed base and players on the platform becoming accustomed to free perks from their Game Pass subscriptions.
Marvel Rivals has been able to acheive this kind of success thanks in part to the game’s large roster of characters that are immediately available to all players. Each of these characters has cosmetic items that can be purchased, often for as much as $20 a piece. Moreover, there’s a season battle pass available for $10 for gamers who want more bang for their buck. It appears as if the roster will only continue to grow as well, with the recent addition of characters from the Fantastic 4, meaning even more opportunities to sell more cosmetics.
Time will tell if the strategy of an ever-expanding roster of characters will enable Marvel Rivals to remain relevant while continuing to bring in enough revenue. Or if it ends up a game players become disillusioned with the same way they have with franchises such as Overwatch.