Marvel Rivals crosses 7M hours watched throughout closed beta

Marvel Rivals, the upcoming 6v6 (tremendous)hero shooter from NetEase, simply completed its prolonged closed beta check with over 7 million hours watched on Twitch. In response to Streams Charts, the title averaged over 20,000 viewers throughout the beta check, which ran from July 23 to August 5.

With this viewership, Marvel Rivals was the twentieth most watched recreation on Twitch throughout its closed beta check operating. Sarcastically, the title prevented its major style rival, Overwatch 2, from claiming the spot. Blizzard’s hero shooter accrued about 6 million hours throughout the identical interval. Notably, the Esports World Cup ran its Overwatch 2 event throughout this timeframe, boosting its visibility.

A part of the explanation for Marvel Rivals success was attributable to its Twitch drops marketing campaign. Viewers that wished to take part within the beta check might solely get their keys by drops, incentivising extra watch time. Moreover, NetEase ran tournaments for the title throughout the beta check and promoted the title at San Diego Comedian Con which additional boosted viewership.

Whereas that is Marvel Rivals first closed beta check, the title additionally ran a closed alpha check in Could. Throughout the alpha, the title earned 3.8 million hours watched — roughly half as a lot viewership.

This Twitch drops technique has labored properly for a variety of builders. The best profile instance is Riot Video games, who used this system for its Valorant beta check. Whereas Marvel Rivals’ 7 million hours watched in two weeks doesn’t fairly match Valorant’s 150-plus million hours watched in its first week, Valorant benefitted from releasing throughout Covid.