Valve has revealed Steam's most-played and best-selling games of the year, and when you narrow it down to new releases of 2024, Marvel Rivals is one of them despite just launching earlier this month.
Steam's 'Best of 2024' page breaks down the platform's "top games measured by gross revenue," and the winners aren't entirely surprising. In the top-tier 'Platinum' group we have Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at number one, followed by Counter Strike 2, Dota 2, Palworld, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Helldivers 2, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, Baldur's Gate 3, and PUBG.
Talking about games released in 2024 specifically, Marvel Rivals is in that same Platinum category in terms of most-played games. Ranked by gross revenue it doesn't quite make the Platinum tier, but it is just below it in Gold alongside big-hitters like Hades 2, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and Tekken 8.
Of course, Marvel Rivals has the benefit of being based on one of the biggest IP of all time, but its success is still notable particularly in the wake of similarly budgeted live-service flops like Concord, xDefiant, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
We already knew Marvel Rivals had a successful launch with over 10 million players logged in just three days, and this new Steam data suggests it might just have what it takes for that success to endure into 2025 and beyond.
Marvel Rivals has what it takes to shake up the PvP shooter genre if it can maintain its hero fantasy while also making balance changes.
