In Marvel Rivals the 6th season has started. This has caused a significant boost in players. Above all, the new character Deadpool is likely a reason for this.
What do the player numbers look like? After its launch on December 1, 2024, and its peak player count in January 2025, the last months saw an average of about 100,000 players daily playing the hero shooter on Steam. The numbers always spiked briefly at the start of new seasons, only to drop again afterwards.
At the start of the 6th season, player numbers are higher than they have been in a long time: On January 6, 2026, over 200,000 people were playing the shooter on Steam (according to SteamDB). The last time the numbers were this high was in May 2025.
However, it is important to note that the shooter is also available on both PS5 and Xbox. Therefore, the total player counts are likely much higher. At release, player numbers were reportedly supposedly at 20 million worldwide.
What is this new character like? Deadpool has recently joined the hero selection and plays completely differently from the other characters. Normally, you have to choose a character and a fixed role at the beginning of the match and decide between a supporter, tank, or damage dealer. Deadpool, however, can switch roles at any time.
This makes him play more dynamically than other characters, where you have to completely change the character if you want to switch roles.
Currently, the shooter on Steam is rated “Mostly Positive” (78%) with over 350,000 reviews. Many players criticize particularly the poor matchmaking and possible bot matches.
Marvel Rivals is a hero shooter where you fight with well-known characters from comics, movies, and series in various modes. The playable heroes are divided into 3 roles. We show you all currently playable heroes in an overview: Marvel Rivals: All characters and heroes you can currently play
