A new mode in Marvel Rivals sparked a sudden surge in Steam players — the biggest increase the game has seen recently.
Since the launch of Season Four, which added Daredevil and Angela, the player base has remained relatively stable. Although current numbers are well below the inaugural season’s record peak of 644,269, the title still ranks among the platform’s most-played games. Last week saw a notable rise — comparable to a season launch — largely driven by the new mode.
The Marvel Zombies mode, inspired by the comics and a recent animated series, pits players against AI enemies and nearly doubled concurrent players. According to SteamDB, at the start of the week Marvel Rivals was maintaining its usual 75–80k concurrent players after a drop following the Season 4.5 rollout. On October 23 the count jumped to roughly 120,000 — almost twice the day-before figure — and stayed elevated for the following days.
Reddit threads mirror the renewed interest, with many users praising the mode. Some, like Living-Ad102, are calling for it to become a permanent feature. Given that players have requested PvE content since launch, the surge is hardly surprising. NetEase appears poised to continue running similar events. Players who want to try it should move quickly — Marvel Zombies is expected to be removed around mid-November.
Source: iXBT.games