This feels familiar...
So for context: I played Marvel Strike Force until about 3 months ago. (Roughly, I can't remember the exact length of time since I freed myself from them.)
And funnily enough, one of the biggest factors in my decision to quit was the utter lack of fun involved in the "game".
Which was caused by, you guessed it, their "Relic Delta" system. (Named Overpower, for reference. Should've been called Overspend, frankly, but that's neither here nor there.) The system basically erased any remaining semblance of strategy from the game - not that there was much left given the dev team's changes to stats, but there was a modicum of skill involved in PvP.
After Overpower launched, the "game" became a question of "Do my team have higher Overpower numbers? Yes? Okay, I win." Or "No? Aw rats, well guess there's no point even trying."
Overpower actively caused me to play the game less, because there was no point in trying to punch up with skill and strategic team building. Relic Delta, or whatever you plan on calling it (in before CG literally calls it "Overpower" with zero critical thinking applied...) will do the same.
And if that isn't enough for you, then let's look at the numbers. Because luckily, we have data! Big thanks to Boilon for this btw, he tracked the number of active monthly MSF users based on leaderboard event data. To begin, I'll explain his methodology.
MSF has leaderboard events basically every day, and some of these have very simple requirements, such as using energy. So it's possible to do nothing in the event except 1 single battle to get on the leaderboard, right at the end of the event so you're as close to the bottom as possible.
This is the method used, as it allowed him to get a mostly accurate idea of how many players did the bare minimum for an event, and thus define a baseline for the number of active players. In the month that Overpower was announced and implemented (April 2025, it's not even been 6 months yet...) there were around 260000-270000 players iirc. Around the same time the previous year, the average active player count was about 350k.
Within 2 weeks of the Overpower system being added, around a further 50000 players had quit. Just under 20% of the active playerbase. Now you can argue there were other bullplop decisions made by Scopely during that time, in which case my response would be: Yes, and that compounded the problem.
And it only got worse over time, with iirc an average of somewhere around 10k players quitting monthly up until the point I also quit playing and stopped paying attention.
But we are now moving into October, basically 6 months from the introduction of Overpower to MSF, so if that average has held, then Scopely and MSF have lost somewhere around a third of their active playerbase since they added "Relic Delta" to their game.
At least 75 thousand players gone (conservative estimate), from all levels of the game, with several big whales and even krakens declaring that the fun wasn't there anymore and quitting. And that number could reach as high as 100k players quitting. With very little in the way of new players (and specifically new spenders) to replace them.
And as we move into October, what interesting little announcement came out through MobileGamer's channel about MSF following a meeting/communication with Scopely?
If you guessed "doubling down on Overpower"? My friend, you would be surprised at how wrong you are. They're putting it on pause, even as they release the next progression systems, for "internal reconsideration".
Or to put it another way, "this sucks, everyone hates us and we're haemorraghing money because of it, let's pause it for now then quietly kill it off for good in the background".
6 months, roughly 75-100k players lost, massive financial hits, and finally Scopely pull the plug on Overpower. Now we are in a more fortunate position with CG, because CG have proven in the past that they are willing to listen to the playerbase without it getting to that point.
So with that in mind, CG, do the smart thing. Send this bill to committee, so it never sees the light of day again.
If you want a freebie suggestion for a new progression system to make relics more impactful? (Rule 1, never criticise without being constructive about it.) Here's mine, I relinquish all rights to it:
Implement Relic Abilities, like you planned originally. Tie their unlock to R10, whales will spend and get an advantage that way, and F2P have something to work towards strategically.
Some of them don't even need to be that complex, I mean here's CAT's relic ability: "Ignores Instant Defeat Immunity." Nihilus' could be identical.
Short, simple, easy. Granted, the sheer number of characters in the game means you'd need a lot of abilities, but once the first wave are done then it's more manageable.
Heck, you could even break fleets more than they already are, and add ship relics if you really need some whale bait. But "Relic Delta" isn't the right move, and as a former MSF player I have the experience to back that claim up. That system is toxic and will cost you more in the long run than it generates in short term gains.
