MobidictumSocialPeta prepared an in-depth analysis for NetEase’s latest global hit, Marvel Rivals, revealing the latest stats and uncovering the secrets behind the game’s success.
December 2024 welcomed gamers with a treat: two popular free-to-play games starting beta testing at the beginning of the month.
Path of Exile 2 (POE 2) launched its beta on December 6, 2024. The game is free to play, but access to the test requires purchasing a sponsor pack (Starting at $30), and it is region-locked. Three days after the launch, players claimed it’s much more intense than Blizzard’s 25+ year IP, Diablo.
On the same day as POE 2’s beta launch, NetEase’s popular team shooter ‘Marvel Rivals’ opened Season 0 with 6v6 Team Battles, Marvel IP, and Payload & Point Capture.
Let’s review the results: Marvel Rivals leads the sales chart, with NetEase again excelling in IP integration.
First, let’s review the game’s performance after its launch. The number of players skyrocketed, with over 440,000 concurrent global players on December 6th, making it the top-selling game on Steam that day.
At the same time, it became the second most played game, only behind the globally dominant shooter Counter-Strike 2. Within three days of its launch, it had amassed over 10 million players worldwide.
According to the data from SteamDB , the game reached its peak in online player count on December 8th (Sunday), with over 480,000 concurrent players. It surpassed popular titles such as its own battle royale NARAKA: BLADEPOINT, as well as GTA 5 and Monster Hunter: World.
At the same time, the game has generated a high level of discussion among players. On the Steam store, it has accumulated over 32,000 reviews, with an approval rating of 75%. On social media, the official game Twitter account @MarvelRivals posted a tweet on the launch day that received over 15,000 likes and more than 2,500 retweets within just three days. Player comments also reflect their enthusiasm and anticipation for the game.
The game’s live-streaming data is equally impressive. On the largest worldwide streaming platform, Twitch, the game had over 116,000 viewers on December 9th, ranking second in its category (with Path of Exile 2, which is region-locked, taking the top spot). It surpassed competitive and shooter titles such as League of Legends, Fortnite, and Valorant.
Marvel Rivals focuses primarily on international markets, ranking first in Steam-PC acquisitions in December.
SocialPeta now covers marketing data from the Steam-PC platform, with over 20 million PC game ad creative data in its database.
As of December 9th, Marvel Rivals has launched 261 ad creatives, making it the Steam-PC product with the largest volume of ad materials in December (up to the 9th).
The game’s advertising efforts are primarily focused on the European and American markets, with the United States being the country/region with the largest marketing investment. Over 60% of the creatives have been targeted at the U.S. market.
In terms of channels, the product mainly targets Google-related platforms, with YouTube accounting for over 55% of the ad creatives, followed by AdSense and AdMob.
NetEase has consistently invested heavily in worldwide PC game marketing. Taking the survival shooter Once Human (launched in July 2024) as an example, the game has already accumulated over 1,400 ad creatives until Dec 9, making it one of the top three Steam-PC products in terms of marketing intensity this year.
Now, let’s take a look at the creative content of Marvel Rivals. Firstly, image-based creatives make up the highest proportion at 45%, followed by video creatives at 39.3%. The dominance of image-based creatives can be attributed to the game’s unique comic-style art and exceptional artistic creation.
Regarding popular creatives, Marvel Rivals primarily includes the following types of creatives:
- As a competitive game centered around IP and hero battles, showcasing the combat of popular heroes is essential. These types of creatives also perform the best in terms of engagement.
- In addition, interviews with the game’s core development team are also essential. PC platform players are highly concerned about the quality of the game, so arranging for key team members to sincerely answer player questions and showcase the development process has garnered significant goodwill from users.
- The numerous superheroes are also a major focus of the game’s promotion. Marvel Rivals has secured nearly all Marvel IP licenses, allowing both movie fans and comic book fans to play as their favorite characters. It truly delivers a chaotic battle across the Marvel multiverse.
With Marvel Rivals setting a strong precedent, NetEase is truly committed to developing quality products.
Recently, major game companies in China have been embroiled in continuous controversies, with NetEase at the forefront. Amidst the rumors and turmoil, NetEase remained unshaken, calmly playing its trump card and turning the tables with a powerful move that shook the entire scene.
First, there is the highly anticipated anime-style GTA Ananta, which released its latest gameplay demo on December 5th. The racing scenes in the game clearly draw inspiration from the iconic Racing Master series, while the dazzling basketball court battles echo elements from All-Star Streetball Party.
It can be said that NetEase has poured years of accumulated experience from its portfolio into this grand and intricate fantasy world, gradually constructing and refining it toward perfection.
Another game to make a ‘comeback’ is Where Winds Meet. Despite a series of delays and changes in its release schedule, players are still captivated by its combination of martial arts theme and hardcore action gameplay.
Until December 9th, the promotional video for the December 27th PC open beta on Bilibili has surpassed one million views. Goldman Sachs has given it the high praise of being ‘NetEase’s most important game of the year,’ which has contributed to a pre-market surge of over 9% in NetEase’s (NTES.US) stock, reaching $99.55.
With NetEase consistently delivering hit titles, will it bring new surprises by the end of 2024? SocialPeta will continue to monitor its latest marketing trends, with more in-depth Steam-PC marketing analysis on the way.