Marvel Rivals: 2025 Was Just a Warm Up

NetEase Claims 2025 Was Just a Warm Up for Marvel Rivals

If you were paying attention to the gaming landscape at the tail end of 2024, you witnessed something rare: a massive, hype-fueled launch that actually lived up to the noise. Marvel Rivals didn't just enter the hero shooter genre; it kicked the door down.

Between shattering player records in December 2024 and dominating the charts throughout 2025, the game has arguably cemented itself as a titan of the industry. But if you think the developers at NetEase are planning to coast on their initial success, think again. According to the team behind the hit shooter, everything we experienced over the last year was just the beginning. In fact, Producer Danny Koo recently dropped a quote that should have every Marvel fan on the edge of their seat: 2025 was just a warm-up.

A Record-Breaking "Warm Up"

To understand the weight of Koo’s statement, we have to look at what the game actually achieved in its first year. Calling 2025 a "warm-up" feels almost absurd when you look at the sheer numbers.

The game roared into January 2025 with over 644,000 concurrent players and pulled in a staggering $135 million in gross revenue right out of the gate. While it’s normal for live-service games to see a dip after the launch window, Marvel Rivals didn't fade into obscurity. Even months later, the game has maintained a healthy, dedicated player base, consistently hovering around or above 100,000 concurrent players on Steam alone.

It has been a fixture in Newzoo’s top ten games by monthly active users all year long. For most studios, these stats represent the absolute peak of success. For the Marvel Rivals team, however, this is merely the foundation.

"We’re not going to slow down," Koo stated in a recent interview. "We’ve already planned more than a year ahead and I can’t wait for our players to see it."

Beyond the Hero Shooter: Zombies and 18v18?

So, how do you top a year like 2025? By changing the fundamental way the game is played.

While the core 6v6 objective-based gameplay has been the bread and butter of Marvel Rivals, NetEase is keenly aware that longevity requires variety. Yachen Bian, the publishing and marketing lead at NetEase, hinted that the future of the game involves expanding well beyond the standard PvP format.

"In the next year, we want to provide more game modes," Bian explained. "It’s why we have prototypes in the game, like PvE and 18v18."

This is a massive shift in strategy. An 18v18 mode would move the game into chaotic, large-scale warfare territory, distinguishing it even further from competitors like Overwatch 2 or Valorant. But perhaps the most intriguing tease was the mention of PvE content.

"We want to give the players more choices of different game modes beyond the basic gameplay because your fundamental experience might be very different. When you’re fighting against zombies, it’s quite different from fighting against other people."

It's clear NetEase is aware of the growing number of players joining Competitive queues to grind and rank up, which has lead to a whole universe of Marvel Rivals boosting, coaching, party-finding services, and even a new bunch of content creators across several platforms.

For lore buffs and casual players who might find the sweatiness of ranked PvP exhausting, the addition of a narrative-driven or horde-mode style PvE component featuring Marvel zombies could be a total game-changer.

The Goal: "The Biggest Game Possible"

The energy coming from the dev team suggests that morale is incredibly high. Maintaining a live-service game is notoriously difficult; the "content treadmill" has burned out countless studios. Yet, Danny Koo describes a team that is still hungry.

"It's a lot of hard work and it always feels different and exciting," Koo said. "Even my own team comes in every day asking what's new today... Everyone wants to make this the biggest game possible."

That ambition is clear in their update cadence. With new content dropping weekly, NetEase is aggressively trying to avoid the content droughts that have killed other promising shooters.

Looking Ahead to 2026

The hero shooter market is one of the most ruthless spaces in gaming. We’ve seen giants stumble and newcomers vanish within months. Marvel Rivals has survived the hardest part—the first year—and thrived.

If 2025 really was just the warm-up lap, the gaming community should be bracing for a sprint in 2026. With prototypes for massive team battles and PvE content on the horizon, Marvel Rivals is positioning itself not just as a successful shooter, but as a comprehensive Marvel gaming platform.

We’ll have to wait and see if they can execute on these ambitious prototypes, but one thing is certain: NetEase isn't afraid to dream big.

What do you think? Would an 18v18 mode be too chaotic, or is that exactly what Marvel Rivals needs?

 

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