Marvel Rivals dev on why Rivals succeeded and Concord failed - "it didn't bring any unique value"

Marvel Rivals game director Thaddeus Sasser explains why PlayStation exclusive Concord failed upon release.

[-Foxtrot]

Maybe but even though it would never have been as bad as Concord, they do have the Marvel IP backing it with multiple fan favourite characters in the spotlight. Could they have really done as well standing out and keeping interest in a now oversaturated market if it was an original IP.

[Tacoboto]

No. And they kind of acknowledge exactly that.

"I think the trick is that you need to have that reason that people want to come and play your game and I think Marvel Rivals does that exactly with the superhero"

That's a question they'll never have to consider or think about. They just need to focus on doing the characters well, making them fun, and keeping players happy by ensuring the former.

[Rangerman1208]

Honestly, a hero shooter with heavy retro-futurism aesthetics doesn't too bad. The problem is that the art direction doesn't lean much on thata spect so it just look like (for the most part) another generic modern scifi setting. That, and the gameplay wise, it barely stands out much besides being the only hero shooter to not have ULTs. Yeah, there ar ethe variants but those feel more like a complicated intergrated verison of Paladins' talent system. That one mode where you're practically forced to pick a new character when you win the round isn't acrually that bad as it reinforces the whole "crewbuilding". The problem is that it was the least played mode out of the bunch unfortunately.

[MrGameAndWatch]

So unique value means cloning famous pvp FPS ?

[jambola]

lol
i like the game a lot in my few games
but i definitely had a few moments of "that's literally Pharah" or thinking I literally saw Sombra running around lol

[Flewid638]

Sometimes, yes.

[SoloGamer1]

exactly.. it just Overwatch with Marvel heroes..

[Psychonaut85]

Little early to be calling Rivals a success. I guess that bar has lowered and not immediately tanking inside a week is a success now.

[RiseNShine]

Concord had a max player count of 694 people on Steam, Marvel Rivals is at 500k players, and moves around 450-480k these days, if for you having half a million people (only on Steam) playing your game is not successful, you really should re-check your definition of success.

[MrGameAndWatch]

And you're comparing a 50$ game to a F2P..

[TheNamelessOne]

@MrGame

Sony doesn't seem to be even thinking about a free-to-play relaunch of Conord, which says a lot.

[VenomUK]

@MrGameAndWatch Concord was a failure- true. But @RiseNShine is absolutely right that it is premature to be declaring Marvel Rivals a success after just five days. Even if it had a high player count, that could just be from players eager to give it a try. XDefiant is being shut down and maybe that had good launch - but it’s the longer term player base that determines its success.

[SoloZelot90]

10million players says success.

[IAMRealHooman]

none of the characters in concord were attractive enough to get R34'd.
I'm serious Overwatch is popular because of it's pron, and marvel rivals female design is appealing for the same reason.
Look at the gacha games that make bank ( genshin, zzz, nikke) , its the hot females that sell.

[Army_of_Darkness]

Nobody wants to play/or see ugly character in a fictional world. Especially these Man-ish looking chicks.

[IAMRealHooman]

even the "fat" character squirrel girl is aesthetically plump like mei from OW, instead of obese, like the weird medic from concord.

[Notellin]

Yeah if I want to see manly and burly women I can just go to Whole Foods or Target. There is no need for video games to experience that phenomenon.

[Moe-Gunz]

Having the marvel IP helps a ton. I find the game to be weak tbh.

[RiseNShine]

That can be the only reason, Marvel Avengers failed miserably, just like Suicide Squad or Gotham Knights on DC side, so having Marvel characters is far from being enough for a game to succeed nowadays.

[jambola]

Yeah but it obviously helps get some attention and fanbase

[Moe-Gunz]

I said it helped. I didn’t say it was the only reason. I think the FTP model, Marvel, and the fact that it is a familiar type of game all play a role. However, if the Marvel IP wasn’t attached I think it would’ve had a very hard time.

Concord was burned at the stake before it was even released.

[jambola]

being free to play also helps a lot

[CrimsonWing69]

I’ll straight up only talk for myself here, but the character designs brought me towards this (not only the hot female designs, but things like Venom and Magneto are bad-ass looking) and it was free, so no risk. I’m sure as sh*t not buying into the microtransactions, but it’s solid and fun for a good distraction until the next game I’m looking forward to.

Nothing about Concord appealed to me and I wasn’t going to spend $40 on that dribble.

That being said, I still do NOT want this to be the direction games are heading. I’m already seeing people ok with free-to-play games monetization because, they’re “free”… when in actuality you spend more on these games in their life time than a traditional one-time pay game. Still, I have enough control not to give in and just enjoy the content I have access to.

[anast]

Marvel is unique value...yeah, these are the creative types in charge of games now....

[Whitey2k]

People didn't give concord a chance tbh reason this one is doing well because the name is in the title it's marvel of course

[anast]

and F2P

[PRIMORDUS]

Not a fan of 3rd person, there should have been an option to pick 1st and 3rd person, if there was I would have tried it, pass.

[HyperMoused]

I think we know why Concord failed

[SoloZelot90]

Lots of people will just wave their success off because it's f2p and because of the IP. Don't be ridiculous. It's no easy as that to be successful in live service.

[Toecutter00]

Isn't it a little too early to decide whether this game is a success? We've seen these kinds of numbers before for a GAAS launch only to see player count dwindle to nothing a mere two months later.