Marvel Rivals crosses 7M hours watched during closed beta

Marvel Rivals, the upcoming 6v6 (super)hero shooter from NetEase, just finished its extended closed beta test with over 7 million hours watched on Twitch. According to Streams Charts, the title averaged over 20,000 viewers during the beta test, which ran from July 23 to August 5.

With this viewership, Marvel Rivals was the 20th most watched game on Twitch during its closed beta test running. Ironically, the title prevented its main genre rival, Overwatch 2, from claiming the spot. Blizzard’s hero shooter accrued about 6 million hours during the same period. Notably, the Esports World Cup ran its Overwatch 2 tournament during this timeframe, boosting its visibility.

Part of the reason for Marvel Rivals success was due to its Twitch drops campaign. Viewers that wanted to participate in the beta test could only get their keys through drops, incentivising more watch time. Additionally, NetEase ran tournaments for the title during the beta test and promoted the title at San Diego Comic Con which further boosted viewership.

While this is Marvel Rivals first closed beta test, the title also ran a closed alpha test in May. During the alpha, the title earned 3.8 million hours watched — roughly half as much viewership.

This Twitch drops strategy has worked well for a number of developers. The highest profile example is Riot Games, who used the program for its Valorant beta test. While Marvel Rivals’ 7 million hours watched in two weeks doesn’t quite match Valorant’s 150-plus million hours watched in its first week, Valorant benefitted from releasing during Covid.