In the short time since its release, Marvel Rivals has already reached a player count in the tens of millions, many of whom are likely downloading and logging into the game specifically to see how some of the most popular Marvel heroes have been adapted into the live-service hero shooter. I'm a longtime Overwatch player and a lifelong Marvel fan, so the game feels tailor-made for me, but even many of my friends who rarely play shooters or competitive games have downloaded the free-to-play Marvel Rivals just to get the feeling of excitement that comes with embodying the Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man, and their allies and enemies in the game.
While that general sense of Marvel excitement is going a long way to attract interested gamers who may not have given a non-Marvel game a chance, the folks who are already getting hooked are looking toward the long term success of the game, especially in terms of character balance. Unsurprisingly, many players are already forming fairly crystallized ideas about who needs some adjustments, with some even citing comic book or movie precedent to show why certain characters deserve changes to better meet their expectations.
