Deadpool Pushed Marvel Rivals Player Count to Nine-Month High

It’s no big secret that Deadpool is one of the most beloved Marvel characters of all time. The loud-mouthed mercenary is a fan-favorite through and through, which is why there was so much buzz around his arrival in Marvel Rivals, the sensational hero shooter with a star-studded line-up.

On Friday, January 16, Marvel Rivals’ sixth season of content went live, introducing Deadpool as a playable hero. The move caused players to flock back to the game, pushing the player count higher than it has been in nine months.

Deadpool Pulls in Players in Marvel Rivals

Yesterday, Marvel Rivals hit 200,027 players on Steam, the highest the count has risen since April 14, 2025, and the release of season two. Every time a major update drops in Marvel Rivals, it’s accompanied by a small increase in player traffic, but nothing moved the ticker up quite like Deadpool has.

The sixth season of content in Marvel Rivals is more than just Deadpool, of course, including new controller settings, an improved photo mode, enhanced hero ‘Proficiency’, and a stack of new bundles in the store. With every new season also comes a fresh battle pass, so more reasons to dive back in and get to the Marvel Rivals grind.

This season brings a new limited-time event, some adjustments to existing modes, a fresh round of Twitch Drops for viewers watching their favorite streamers, and a whole host of fixes and optimizations.

The introduction to this season’s patch notes was ‘written by’ Deadpool himself:

Deadpool here, hijacking the patch notes because, let’s face it, nobody reads these unless you need to know if your main got nerfed. Then you whine that there are no balance updates here, and some random internet person tells you what you really want is the Balance Post, not the Patch Notes. I see you, internet people!

Well, guess what? Season 6 is almost here! (They took this long to add me!? Who came before, oh Gambit & Rogue… together? #$%& that!) Anyways, I’m here, I’m playable, and I’m ready to make the Collector’s Museum wilder than a taco truck at a biker rally.

There are still plenty of adored characters for NetEase to lean on for Marvel Rivals, so the train is far from running out of steam. Deadpool might be the hottest new character yet in Marvel Rivals, but he’s nowhere near the last.

Which Marvel character would you love to see added to the game? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server.

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