Overwatch 2 Steam Player Count Drops 40% After Marvel Rivals Launch

Overwatch 2’s player base took a dive after Marvel Rivals’ release – indicated by a 39% drop in Steam player base from November 2024 to January 2025. 

During the later months of 2024, Overwatch 2 had 45,000 to 60,000 players – averaging a little over 50,000. But in January of 2025, the player base dropped to a lot of 26,000, while Marvel Rivals flourished with an average of 300,000 players on Steam alone. 

Both games are competitive team based shooters, with Marvel Rivals utilizing Overwatch’s original 6v6 format. Their map designs and game modes are remarkably similar, with the biggest difference being Marvel Rivals’  third-person view. 

Blizzard initially held a firm grasp over the market of team based shooters, largely thanks to the competitive appeal of Overwatch. But Blizzard stopped official support for the Overwatch League well over a year ago – leaving room for another esport to take its place. 

As if to take advantage of the vacancy in the esport scene, Netease, the studio behind Marvel Rivals’, began throwing global tournaments as early as season 0 for Marvel Rivals. It appears Marvel Rivals’ esport will continue to be supported by Netease, indicated by their announcement of the Marvel Rivals’ Season 1 championship (with the absurdly low prize pool). 

The data used in this article were taken purely off of Steam. Since both games are cross platform, with Overwatch 2 being played more on Blizzard’s official launcher on PC, it is difficult to gauge the exact impact Marvel Rivals’ had on Overwatch 2’s player base.