Mobile and PC gaming often feel like separate worlds, but Marvel Contest of Champions is bridging the gap. In May, developer Kabam launched a PC version of the game via direct download, followed by its official debut on Steam on June 18, 2025. With more than 225 million downloads to date, Marvel Contest of Champions has built a massive following on mobile platforms, and these new launches are poised to expand that reach even further.
Marvel Contest of Champions has just celebrated its 10th anniversary, too, which is a giant achievement for any game, but especially an originally mobile title. To celebrate both the anniversary and the Steam launch, we sat down with Kabam to discuss these major achievements. We talked to Senior Producer at Kabam, Charles Busch, about how Marvel Contest of Champions has evolved, and what might be next!
Marvel Contest of Champions has recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. How does it feel?
Charles Busch: It’s a bit surreal. Few live service games stand the test of time as long as Contest has, and it has been an incredible experience working on a game that has such a passionate team behind it, and such a passionate player base playing it.
How has Marvel Contest of Champions changed in the last 10 years?
Charles Busch: The Contest started out with pretty basic RPG interactions, and limited content — basically just Story Quest and Arenas. Over the years, we’ve kept the same core Rhythm-based fighting that players have loved, but the depth of the RPG has increased, more unique Champion playstyles have evolved, and there are more ways to play than ever before.
Marvel Contest of Champions has released a lot of content in the last 10 years. What has been the most popular update so far?
Charles Busch: I think one of our most popular updates was the Battlegrounds game mode — you build a deck of 30 Champions, go through picks and bans phases, and compete head-to-head to get the best score. This really elevated our game’s competitive scene and served as the backbone of our Battlerealm Brawl tournament.
With over 300 playable characters in Marvel Contest of Champions, how does Kabam keep things balanced?
Charles Busch: We try to set very clear goals at the beginning of the design phase. Who should this Champion counter/be countered by? How much damage, survivability, utility, and defensive threats should they have? Then we validate that with quantitative data — comparing statistics against similarly rated Champions, and qualitative data — having numerous playtests to validate how it feels as a player. When we miss the mark, we’ll perform balance updates. And we’re also working more reworks into the schedule to bring some of our older Champions up to modern standards.
What has the response been to Marvel Contest of Champions on PC direct download, or to the Steam demo, so far?
Charles Busch: We have promoters and detractors, like any game does. Many players have enjoyed the ability to play Contest with a controller, with improved visuals on their larger gaming monitors — while some players take issue with F2P game mechanics or with Easy Anti-Cheat. That said, I’m optimistic about how the PC version will perform.
Marvel Contest of Champions was a part of Steam Next Fest ahead of its Steam launch. What does Steam bring to the Marvel Contest of Champions family?
Charles Busch: There are many players who aren’t really engaged with gaming on their phones — they prefer doing so on their dedicated gaming setups. By launching on Steam, we hope to reach these players who may have never heard of the Contest before and convince them to give our game a try.
Will Marvel Contest of Champions come to Steam with the whole backlog of content, and will future updates come to all platforms at the same time?
Charles Busch: The Contest experience is full Crossplay — mobile, PC, both; play where and how you want. The full Contest experience is on PC, and future updates will drop for both mobile and PC concurrently.
What goes into bringing a previously mobile-only game to PC platforms?
Charles Busch: For a game with as much history as Contest, a lot. We have 300+ screens/modals in our game, and over 300 Champions in our game. It was a significant undertaking, making sure they all translated to PC and the new input methods.
Were there any details in Marvel Contest of Champions that you were worried wouldn’t translate to PC?
Charles Busch: Our biggest concern at the beginning was the controller experience. Would the gameplay feel good to play on a controller? Would controllers be too good and feel unfair for the mobile-only players? I’m happy to say that we ultimately got this into a pretty good spot.
How is the team at Kabam ensuring that Marvel Contest of Champions can attract new players on Steam and PC direct download without making them feel like they are 10 years behind?
Charles Busch: There’s currently a number of early game initiatives underway to smooth out the early game experience and help players advance towards the end game. However, we don’t want to completely trivialize that experience either, so it’s a balance to walk.
Are there any console plans for Marvel Contest of Champions in the future?
Charles Busch: Not currently, but this PC version has laid a lot of the groundwork already, if that’s something we decide to explore in the future.
What’s next for Marvel Contest of Champions, whether that be new content, updates, or more?
Charles Busch: I have to give a hand to the team; they’re always working so hard to keep the Contest fresh and exciting for players. We have some new Event modes coming soon that I’m really excited about, but I can’t fold here and share too much. The second half of this year is absolutely jam-packed with exciting features and content, and I bet it’s going to be one of the best times to be a Contest player.
Marvel Contest of Champions is now available on Steam, Android, iOS and PC direct download, and the best part? It is absolutely free!
