Marvel Rivals continues to dominate the multiplayer shooter scene and that’s been bad news for Overwatch 2. Fans everywhere have made jokes about preferring the comic-based shooter over Activision Blizzard’s golden child. Unfortunately, they might not just be jokes, as research shows fans would rather play NetEase’s licensed title.
According to research by SteamDB (via The Gamer), the release of Rivals has led to a steady decline for the Overwatch sequel. The player base has dropped to a staggering 39% since Rivals was released, which isn’t great news for Activision Blizzard. While Overwatch 2 is far from dead, it’s clear that they’ve lost a lot of goodwill from fans.
The saga of Overwatch 2 is a mess, as it was supposed to include new features like a story-based PvE mode. Unfortunately, that was scrapped and players are left with a worse version of the original shooter. Now that Marvel Rivals is here and giving players cooler characters to use, it’s easy to see why things changed so much.
Rivals has had its fair share of controversy, with the original Season 1 update removing mods from the game. Modders have since found a way around this, but this hasn’t really affected anyone’s enjoyment of this acclaimed shooter. Considering how it launched with so many heroes and some great cosmetics, it’s easy to see why this title is a huge hit.
Only time will tell if Overwatch 2 will eventually rebound and overthrow Marvel Rivals, but that won’t be happening anytime soon. While the game is still a fun shooter for those who are still playing it, everyone else is having a better time playing Marvel Rivals.
For more on Marvel Rivals, check out our guide on how to use Storm, one of the game’s best characters. Gamers can also read about Bioware bringing back older developers to make the next Mass Effect title.