History of Marvel Rivals in Timeline

Marvel Rivals is a free-to-play, third-person hero shooter developed by NetEase Games in collaboration with Marvel Games. Released on December 6, 2024, for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S, it features cross-play and a roster of 38 Marvel characters. By February 2025, the game had amassed over 40 million players. The game combines the popular hero shooter genre with the well-known Marvel universe.

March 27, 2024: Game Announcement Trailer

On March 27, 2024, Marvel Games first announced Marvel Rivals through a trailer.

August 5, 2024: Closed Beta Test End Date

The closed beta test for Marvel Rivals took place from July 23 to August 5, 2024, for both consoles and PC.

November 16, 2024: Voice Over Option Confirmation

On November 16, 2024, it was confirmed that Marvel Rivals features an option to select between English, Japanese, or Mandarin voice overs at launch.

November 30, 2024: Launch Trailer Release

On November 30, 2024, less than a week before the game's release, the launch trailer for Marvel Rivals was released, showcasing 5 new playable heroes that would be added upon launch.

December 6, 2024: Marvel Rivals Release

On December 6, 2024, Marvel Rivals, a free-to-play, third-person hero shooter game developed by NetEase Games in collaboration with Marvel Games, was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.

PlayStation®5 Digital Edition (slim)

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December 8, 2024: Concurrent Player Peak on Steam

Marvel Rivals peaked at 480,990 concurrent players on Steam on December 8, 2024.

December 2024: Winter Celebration Event Start

In December 2024, Marvel Rivals launched its first Winter Celebration event, featuring a 4v4 game mode similar to Splatoon where all players play as Jeff the Land Shark to use that character's spit attack to cover the most area on a map.

December 2024: First Month Revenue Estimate

Throughout its first month, the game maintained most of its in-game player count. GameLook, a Chinese games industry research website, estimated a revenue of about $135 million across all platforms in December 2024.

2024: Highest Single-Day Active Users

Microsoft revealed that Marvel Rivals was one of the games on Xbox with the highest single-day active users in 2024.

January 2025: Top Revenue Game Ranking

For January 2025, Marvel Rivals was 5th in the top 20 games by revenue in the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy.

January 2025: Winter Celebration Event Duration

The Winter Celebration event in Marvel Rivals, which started in December 2024, continued through January 2025, featuring limited-time modes and themed cosmetics.

February 2025: Player Count Milestone

As of February 2025, Marvel Rivals reached over 40 million players across all supported platforms.

February 2025: Esports Scene Development Plans

During an earnings call held by NetEase in February 2025, the developer confirmed its plans to further develop an esports scene around Marvel Rivals.

February 2025: NetEase Lays Off Seattle Team

In February 2025, NetEase laid off their Seattle-based design team, including director Sasser, to optimize development efficiency for Marvel Rivals.

February 2025: No Plans for PvE Mode

As of February 2025, the development team for Marvel Rivals had no current plans to introduce a player versus environment (PvE) game mode.

April 6, 2025: Marvel Rivals Championship End Date

The inaugural edition of the "Marvel Rivals Championship" (MRC), an esports tournament, was set to take place from March 8 through April 6, 2025. The MRC will have a prize pool of USD$14,500.