Warner Bros. ‘MultiVersus’ Fighting Game Shutting Down This Summer

2022’s Fighting Game of the Year shutting down this summer. But don’t panic, MultiVersus will be back in the summer of 2024.

In 2021, Nickelodeon came out with a Smash Bros type fighting game called Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl. It starred many of Nick’s big cartoon franchises and was kind of disappointing when it was first released. It had no voice acting, the gameplay was not all that fun, and the levels were not great. Turns out while Nick was working on a fighting game, WB Games also was working on one. Sensing blood in the water, they released the trailer for its Smash Bros type fighting game called MultiVersus in 2021. The trailer immediately won people to its side with the reveal that many of its characters would have their current or most popular voice actors like Kevin Conroy, John DiMaggio, Maisie Williams, Matthew Lillard, and more.

The game is being developed by Player First Games and was released in an Open Beta starting July 2022. It has been getting updated consistently since then with a very dedicated fanbase. The game even won the best fighting game of the year at both The Game Awards 2022 and the 2023 D.I.C.E Awards. Well, gamers enjoying the game are in for a rude awakening.

MultiVersus Needs More Time in the Oven

The game director of MultiVersus, Tony Huynh, has been very open about the game on his Twitter since the Open Beta started with updates on the game’s characters, playlists, and seasons. Huynh has some unfortunate news this time around for those hoping for Season 3. The game will be shutting down the servers as of June 25th and will be back in early 2024.

Players First Games has issued a full statement as well as Huynh’s video on their Twitter page to let gamers know what comes next for MultiVersus and what to expect while the game servers are down.

“We know there’s still a lot of work to do. As a result, we have a clearer view of what we need to focus on, specifically the content cadence of new characters, maps and modes to give you more ways to enjoy the game, along with updated netcode and more matchmaking improvements. We’ll also be reworking the progression system based on your feedback and looking at new ways for you to connect with your friends in the game.

To do this the right way, we will be closing the MultiVersus Open Beta on June 25, 2023. As part of this process, we’ll be pausing updates and taking the game offline as we prepare for the launch of MultiVersus, which we are targeting for early 2024.”

via WB games

Shutting down the game for now just makes sense if the game is not complete. This is just another instance of releasing a game much too soon with the game needing more balancing, bug testing, and work on getting each new character to work with the existing ones without having the current player base asking for more. Some games are able to get away with early access when it is much more cooperative or just a single-player game. This being a fighting game though makes the audience very aware of any issues or changes to characters since balancing is incredibly tough. Hopefully, this will give the developers the time they need to fully release something that both the gamers and the developers are happy with.

The Future of MultiVersus

Huynh and Player First Games let gamers know the game will still be available to download digitally until April 4th and the digital currency, Gleamium, in the game will also only be purchasable till then. The servers themselves will be playable against people online and Season Pass 2 will also be extended to June 25th. Season 3 has been postponed indefinitely until we find out more in 2024, so it only makes sense to extend the current season pass till then. Unfortunately, if you thought the extension would involve new Weekly Milestones to unlock the season pass faster, you are out of luck. The Daily Missions will continue to update, but the Weekly Missions will stop updating with new ones after March 31st.

via WB Games

As for what happens after the servers are offline, the game will still be playable in the training modes and local matches modes with every cosmetic you currently unlocked. This way you can still play with friends or CPU players till the game comes back in 2024. If you downloaded the game before the April 4th deadline, you can also still re-download the game if you uninstall it. Players First Games wants people to rest easy that anything they unlocked will carry over to the finished game and that they should still be able to enjoy the game before then.

I’m a big fan of the game and can only hope the game comes out on the other side feeling like a totally different game. I’ll see you all on the battlefield as Superman till the servers shut down.

“Are you really only using a fraction of your power?” Superman to Shaggy, MultiVersus

Author: Spider-Mike

Spider-Mike is a staff writer who is a regular co-host on the let's play channel Rage Select and regular contributor to One of US.net for over 5 years. Born in Austin, but raised on the border of Texas and Mexico. He has been gaming since the NES and jokes that he has a Masters in Spider-Man, Superman, and Dragon Ball.