Marvel Rivals Player Count Takes a Nosedive – But Is It Really Bad News?

Marvel Rivals Player Count Takes a Nosedive – But Is It Really Bad News?

By Røckët | 6th of May, 2025

Let's talk about Rivals. The game that took the worlf by Storm just a few months ago is now seeing its lowest player numbers yet. According to SteamDB, Marvel Rivals hit an all-time low of 159,426 concurrent players on May 4th. Yeah, that sounds like a lot of people – and it is! – but when you compare it to the whopping 600,000+ players the game had back in December when Season 1 launched, you start to see why some folks are getting worried

What's Going On?

I've been keeping tabs on Marvel Rivals since launch, and this player drop is happening right after Season 2 kicked off last month. You'd think new content would bring players back, not chase them away. Season 2 brought us Emma Frost (who, by the way, is absolutely devastating in the right hands) and promises Ultron later this month. So what gives?

The thing is, this kind of drop isn't that unusual. Almost every multiplayer game follows this pattern – massive launch, gradual decline, then settling into a dedicated player base. Remember when everyone and their grandma was playing Fall Guys? Or Among Us? Same deal

The Real Issues

If you've spent any time in the Marvel Rivals Discord or subreddit, you already know the main complaints. The role queue situation is driving people nuts. Nothing worse than jumping into a match and ending up with a team of five damage dealers while the other side has a perfectly balanced composition. I've lost count of how many matches I've lost because nobody wanted to switch to a support character

One player I regularly team up with put it perfectly: "I love the game, but I'm tired of losing matches before they even start because of team comp issues."

By The Numbers

Let's put this 159,426 player count in perspective:

• That's down roughly 75% from the game's peak

• Marvel Rivals hit 40 million registered users by February

• The game still ranks among the top 15 most-played titles on Steam

So yes, the numbers are down, but Marvel Rivals isn't exactly on life support. It's more like the game is shedding its casual players and finding its true audience

Is Season 2 Enough?

The current season brought some welcome additions. Emma Frost is a blast to play (though her diamond form needs a slight nerf, if you ask me), and the new King's Row-inspired map is gorgeous. But the biggest question on everyone's mind is whether Ultron's addition later this month will be enough to bring back some of those lapsed players

I've been grinding through the Season 2 battle pass, and while the cosmetics are definitely a step up from Season 1 (that Iron Man Celestial armor is chef's kiss), the core gameplay issues remain

What's Next?

The developers have been surprisingly quiet about addressing the role queue complaints, though a recent dev stream hinted at "big changes coming to team composition" – whatever that means. If they want to stop the bleeding, they need to act fast

For now, those of us still playing are enjoying shorter queue times and matches against more skilled opponents. The casual crowd may have moved on, but the Marvel Rivals diehards are still throwing down daily

Are you still playing Marvel Rivals? Drop a comment below and let me know what you think about the game's future. Is this just a temporary dip, or should we be worried about the long-term health of one of 2024's biggest gaming success stories?