How long does MPQ have left?

Scofie

@Timemachinego said:
@Scofie Best to just close this thread, it was well intentioned but I can't with EB right now. I'd rather have to go back and try to have a conversation with Hounds at this point.

It's a shame you edited the OP because I thought it was a good start of a discussion.

I don't think EB was arguing in bad faith, and many others have made the point about claims made on the internet, so I'll not repeat those, though I do agree with them.

I do think there is an interesting disconnect between the expectations of players who are upset about the monetization of the game and the need to do so due to the alleged decline in revenue (regardless of the scale). I guess the forum is not representative of the overall player base but I'm interested to know how it affects different people. Some in my alliance are less interested in the game because of the perceived need to spend. Others are more bothered by dilution of rewards making F2P more difficult to keep up.

I've said before that I don't think that players with top rosters need to spend to keep up any more and without that revenue, it becomes a pyramid where far more people need to spend. It's a difficult balance to strike though because free stuff from playing keeps you playing for longer but means you spend less. Less free stuff reduces the velocity of your roster growth and that also reduces the impetus to spend. Add into that the global economic conditions over the last few years and I can absolutely believe that spending is down.

bluewolf

I have been tracking the game's revenue on Sensor Tower off and on for years, and steadily since August 2023.

I could share a screenshot of a spreadsheet I have made.

It would verify what is said and would put in black and white the unfortunate truth.

Do people want that? Would people like to see that the revenue is dwindling? That the last two months were the two lowest I have seen going back to June 2020?

Would that hasten the end? would people spend less as a result of seeing that?

My spreadsheet is based on what I can glean without being a premium member. It is an estimate rounded to the 100,000 mark. It does not include Steam.

But it seems like it is a valid representation of a downward trend that has been exacerbated by the swap program change leading to buy clubs ending their practices.

entrailbucket

@bluewolf said:
I have been tracking the game's revenue on Sensor Tower off and on for years, and steadily since August 2023.

I could share a screenshot of a spreadsheet I have made.

It would verify what is said and would put in black and white the unfortunate truth.

Do people want that? Would people like to see that the revenue is dwindling? That the last two months were the two lowest I have seen going back to June 2020?

Would that hasten the end? would people spend less as a result of seeing that?

My spreadsheet is based on what I can glean without being a premium member. It is an estimate rounded to the 100,000 mark. It does not include Steam.

But it seems like it is a valid representation of a downward trend that has been exacerbated by the swap program change leading to buy clubs ending their practices.

I mean...yes? What is with you people? Why is this some kind of secret?

AdeptusRevolt

I was coming here to mention it's Sensor Tower as a source, not sure why it was being guarded as a secret.

We love spreadsheets.

entrailbucket

Oh -- I assume all the folks who are super concerned about revenues falling have been spending extra to keep the game alive, right? The game you love to play? You're totally not cheering for the game to close down, and gleefully doomposting about it?

ThisisClemFandango

May I suggest a change of tack going forward?
This is my opinion
Well I see it differently
Well that's OK people can see things anyway they want
This is true
Take it easy dude
You too, all the best

WhiteBomber

According to technology, we're looking good:

chatgpt:
As of March 6, 2025, there is no official announcement regarding the end of Marvel Puzzle Quest (MPQ). The game continues to receive updates and new content. For example, on December 17, 2024, the developers released the "2025 MPQ Roadmap," highlighting plans for the upcoming year, including the completion of Champions 2.0 and the introduction of new characters and features.
MARVELPUZZLEQUEST.COM
Additionally, a community poll was conducted in November 2024 to vote for a new 4-Star character to be added to the game in 2025.
MARVEL.COM
These developments suggest that MPQ will continue to operate throughout 2025 and beyond. For the most current information, it's recommended to follow official MPQ channels.

BlackBoltRocks

@Scofie said:

@Timemachinego said:
@Scofie Best to just close this thread, it was well intentioned but I can't with EB right now. I'd rather have to go back and try to have a conversation with Hounds at this point.

It's a shame you edited the OP because I thought it was a good start of a discussion.

I don't think EB was arguing in bad faith, and many others have made the point about claims made on the internet, so I'll not repeat those, though I do agree with them.

Indeed. And I'd much rather have a conversation with EB than Hound. Also, if you're going to make a statement like "the game's revenue has dropped by half" and then refuse to back up your statement with irrefutable facts, and then get upset that other people rightly call you out, that's just infantile. Enough with fallacies. The editing of the OP is extremely puerile.

Anyway...so how long does MPQ have left? I'm not optimistic to be honest. Sure, there's the bunch of longtime vets (like myself) who have never been in buy clubs, and have spent a handful a cash here and there, that'll continue to play. A large part of it is probably sunk cost fallacy. But a player like me isn't going to keep the devs' economy afloat. Anecdotally many longtime players have stopped playing, whether competitively or altogether, which ties in to my next two paragraphs.

From the dev standpoint...at the start, I was very happy with what BCS brought to the table. Retro sharts, generally good buffs to older characters, brought plenty of goodwill. But in recent times they've really fallen off. The seasonal vaults, blatant cash-grab deals, the issue of 5* feeders (seriously? Silver Sam secondarily feeding Gorgon, Taskmaster feeding Hobby?), and of course the awesome engine. We got a John Cena heel turn before that. At this rate, we'll get GTA6 and the 6th ASOIAF book before the engine. I really want to be proven wrong, and I don't want to take away or overlook the good work that BCS has done, but it just feels like behind the scenes there isn't a clear long-term map besides the platitudinal engine.

From a character standpoint, I did think of packing it in after Sidewinder. What's the point of looking forward to new characters when this one chap invalidates more than 95% of the roster? Why bother wasting resources to get a 2a5 and 3a5 (both of which I've done) when you just need a lv70 0/0/5 Giancarlo? Power creep is usually inevitable in games like these, but Sidewinder pushed it too far. And the just-implemented "nerf" is no nerf at all. Likewise, those players with 550 MBaku, Chasm, and 3a5 Namor need never chase another character again, unless they introduce a character who passively shuts down all other passives or reduces enemy match damage to zero. That's the corner we find ourselves in. Some of my alliance mates called it a day after getting Golden May to 550, and anyone can see why.

(P.S. I've been trying not to rag on the artwork. A huge reason I started playing this game and haven't stopped since was/is the use of comic covers for characters, and moreso the delightful character artwork. D3Go provided us with amazing, lifelike art. BCS...they're trying their best, but you can tell the difference (think they took over around the time of 5* Kamala). And ever since Phyla-Vell, each character has had a maximum of two poses: their default roster/recruit pose, and the in-battle pose in the top half of the screen; these two poses are shamelessly recycled for ability animations. Previously, each character would have about 4 different poses. I don't want to use the word "lazy", but that's what it smacks of. I don't know if the art budget is going to costumes, and even if so, the recent costumes have been, well, not good. They are mere chroma changes. Ok I guess I did end up ragging on the artwork)

Borstock

They're in the finishing stages of releasing a new engine. It's true that reduced profits can certainly bring an end to the best of intentions for the future, but it would be crazy for them to end the game after spending so many months developing a new version from the ground up. And I've been personally assured that the new engine will NOT be repurposed as a sequel.

Daredevil217

There are some things I wished we’d of gotten while waiting for the new engine that we were told we would and were never delivered- like purchasing more than 5 boosts, or the ability to swap shards for example. Daredevil will likely never get his much needed rebalance because once the fountain turns back on (engine completed) his window will have long passed. Buy clubs have indeed died. I’m sure people spend here and there individually, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the mass spend embargo has hurt their pockets. Those in clubs were buying to support the game, not because they needed the resources to keep up. So rather than continue to work a model that has been tried and true for 11 years (basically unheard of for a mobile game), the devs upset their core base doing a lot of nickel and diming. Monetizing everything rather than putting out stuff people want to support. Folks will 550 Sidewinder with their mountains of HP and hate it all the same because this one character will be needed to compete and he’s not at all fun to play against (spoiler- most folks have liked the fun offensive glass cannons historically not the slow down to a slog characters). Keep making these must have broken “defensive” characters and see what happens. I can’t call when the game will end for the devs or other players… only for me. Once I burn through my resources I’m likely out. But to be fair, I have a ton of resources so can last quite awhile keeping up FTP. I can’t be bothered to spend like I did. I personally don’t like feeling like I HAVE to spend. Once I feel anyone trying to manipulate me I do the opposite out of spite. And that’s how it feels. Sidewinder feels like they grossly missed the mark. I’m also tired of all the must have characters being 4* that cost an arm and a leg while we get the Hobgoblins of the world as our “chase” characters. I’m not “gleefully waiting for the game to end” and would be quite sad because I still enjoy it. But if I’m forced into spending to keep enjoying it (pay to win) that’s when I’ll get off the train with no regrets. Grief sure. But that’s different than regret. I don’t do the sunk cost thing. But it does hurt seeing the state the game is in right now. Hopefully they figure some of this stuff out and the engine (which has become a meme at this point) actually allows for things like mass rebalances and new content for players). Okay, rant over.

DAZ0273

Can we use this as the new MPQ Logo?

AdeptusRevolt

@Borstock said:
They're in the finishing stages of releasing a new engine. It's true that reduced profits can certainly bring an end to the best of intentions for the future, but it would be crazy for them to end the game after spending so many months developing a new version from the ground up. And I've been personally assured that the new engine will NOT be repurposed as a sequel.

New engine is close, and has been a big project. Lately they have put more focus on finishing the engine, which enables more options in the game and more creativity. There probably will be a big push in marketing for the game once its done, but would not make sense to do that when you've got all hands on deck working on a major upgrade.

DAZ0273

There is also a large amount of Marvel produce in 2025 with a lot of it in the highly anticipated zone. DD, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four just 3 examples. We have enough tie-in stuff to get us easily through the year so unless things are literally at the point of going over a cliff this would be a very strange time to close the doors.

rainkingucd

@DAZ0273 said:
There is also a large amount of Marvel produce in 2025 with a lot of it in the highly anticipated zone. DD, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four just 3 examples. We have enough tie-in stuff to get us easily through the year so unless things are literally at the point of going over a cliff this would be a very strange time to close the doors.

I'm looking forward to PearDevil, Buckwheat Barnes, and Red Leaf Richards this year

DAZ0273

@rainkingucd said:

@DAZ0273 said:
There is also a large amount of Marvel produce in 2025 with a lot of it in the highly anticipated zone. DD, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four just 3 examples. We have enough tie-in stuff to get us easily through the year so unless things are literally at the point of going over a cliff this would be a very strange time to close the doors.

I'm looking forward to PearDevil, Buckwheat Barnes, and Red Leaf Richards this year

Don't forget Invisible Wombat

entrailbucket

Yeah, so if their business model is now or ever was "hey, let's just let everyone play for free forever and win everything forever, and if they like us maybe they'll donate a few bucks" then they deserve to fail.

Indie games with one or two developers can do pretty well just soliciting donations. Mobile games with ongoing development costs and a very expensive license can't.

Borstock

@DAZ0273 said:
There is also a large amount of Marvel produce in 2025 with a lot of it in the highly anticipated zone. DD, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four just 3 examples. We have enough tie-in stuff to get us easily through the year so unless things are literally at the point of going over a cliff this would be a very strange time to close the doors.

Avengers Doomsday has a tentative release date of May 1st, 2026. If we use new MCU releases as the barometer, I would think MPQ is safe for a while.

DAZ0273

@Borstock said:

@DAZ0273 said:
There is also a large amount of Marvel produce in 2025 with a lot of it in the highly anticipated zone. DD, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four just 3 examples. We have enough tie-in stuff to get us easily through the year so unless things are literally at the point of going over a cliff this would be a very strange time to close the doors.

Avengers Doomsday has a tentative release date of May 1st, 2026. If we use new MCU releases as the barometer, I would think MPQ is safe for a while.

Doomsday... gulp

Phumade

https://digitalbros.com/investor-relation/documents-and-results/financial-documents/

Thats the official parent company, and they do discuss the marvel puzzle quest segments. Long story short, revenues and expenses are largely down and I suspect they are reorganizing the game economy to match how their other IPs monetize.

Its clear, they are right sizing in anticipation of a new push, whether they can retain their own playerbase or attract enough new players remains to be seen. but its all laid out in publically accessible reports

Revenues from the Free-to-Play operating segment declined by 21% compared to the first quarter of the previous
fiscal year. The Group will relaunch the video games in the portfolio starting from the second half of the fiscal
year, especially in some specific markets that are currently generating only marginal revenue.

page 19 of the recent financial report

more indepth discussion with revenue and expense charts page 25
https://digitalbros-com.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Digital-Bros-Interim-Report-as-of-September-30th-2024_cr.pdf

Phumade

Objectively they will get 6 months of the new engine and then there is a real decision point