MultiVersus | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Player First Games |
Publisher(s) | Warner Bros. Games |
Director(s) | Tony Huynh [1] |
Composer(s) |
|
Engine | Unreal Engine 4 (open beta) Unreal Engine 5 (launch) |
Platform(s) | |
Release | May 28, 2024 |
Genre(s) | Fighting |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
MultiVersus is an upcoming free-to-play crossover fighting game developed by Player First Games and published by Warner Bros. Games for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The game features characters from Warner Bros. Entertainment franchises.
Officially announced in November 2021 following online rumors and leaks, [2] early access and open beta versions of the game ran from July 2022 to June 2023. The full launch of the game is scheduled for May 28, 2024. [3] [4]
MultiVersus is a platform fighter, with players battling on different stages and attempting to knock the opponent beyond the stage's boundary by dealing sufficient damage. [5] [6] [7] While 1-vs-1 and free-for-all options are available, the game emphasizes battling in teams of two characters; [8] most attacks in the game are designed with this in mind, including other players passively strengthening the move's effect.
MultiVersus features a perk system, which allows players to customize their characters with passive abilities that will also affect their partners in Teams. These include Signature Perks, which are exclusive to a respective character and directly affect their attributes and abilities. If players in the same team equip the same perks, those perks' effects are enhanced.
MultiVersus features two currencies: Gold, which is primarily used to purchase characters and train perks; and Gleamium, a premium currency that can be used to buy variants, taunts, banners, and Premium Season Passes in addition to characters. Gold is obtained by normally playing the game through various means, while Gleamium is purchasable with real-world currencies. During certain events, specific tokens can be earned by playing in any mode and playing with specific character variants doubles the amount. These currencies can be used to purchase cosmetic items or, in the case of candy during the Monster Mash event, traded for Gold, with 10 Gold for every 500 candy units.
The Season Pass contains two tiers: Normal, which is free for all players; and Premium, which requires Gleamium to purchase. In both tiers, players earn points by completing daily and seasonal missions. Obtainable items include gold, toast and cosmetics such as banners and ring-out effects. Progress in both tiers is tied; if the Premium tier is purchased after progress is made on the Normal tier, all rewards will retroactively be obtained.
As of May 2024 [update] , MultiVersus features 27 playable characters. [9] With one exception, Reindog, these characters originate from the intellectual properties of Warner Bros. Pictures. Voice acting is prominently emphasized, and several voice actors reprise their respective roles from other media. Characters can be any one of four classes—Assassin, Bruiser, Mage and Tank [10] —and are best suited for covering a specific direction, these being horizontal, vertical, or hybrid. [10]
Every character has at least one playable variant, some of which have different voice actors or dialogue from the default variant. Characters can be unlocked through gameplay, or purchased using gold, Gleamium, or Character Tickets included with the Founder's Pack content packages; four specific characters are also playable for all users on a rotating basis. [11] [12] The open beta initially launched with 17 characters, with new characters regularly introduced in subsequent updates.
The game is developed by Player First Games. [2] [6] [7] Dedicated servers, rollback netcode, and voice acting have been promoted as prominent features, and the team intend to release new content and characters via constant updates. [8] The game held a closed alpha test from February 25–March 8, 2022. [24]
Prior to its announcement in November 2021, rumors of the game surfaced from multiple sources. [8] Initially, a user on the subreddit r/GamingLeaksandRumours claimed that the game was in development as early as 2019 following the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Warner Bros.' acknowledgement of the Ultra Instinct Shaggy internet meme. The user also claimed that the idea of a crossover influenced the filming of Space Jam: A New Legacy , [25] [26] although the validity of these claims is uncertain.
On October 27, 2021, professional Super Smash Bros. player Juan "Hungrybox" DeBiedma shared an image on Twitter showing what he alleged was the character selection screen for MultiVersus. [27] The image was deleted after Warner Bros. submitted a DMCA takedown request, which DeBiedma stated was a "hard confirm" of the photograph's veracity. [28] [29] The image included Gandalf and Rick Sanchez as playable characters in place of Arya Stark and Garnet, and Superman and Steven Universe's designs were updated to be shown in the trailer. Jeff Grubb, a gaming insider, confirmed that LeBron James would feature in the game. [30] Internal game design documents for the game were leaked on ResetEra. [31] [32] [33] Following the tech test, gameplay footage was leaked online. [34]
On May 26, 2022, a subsequent leak revealed additional playable characters, including Daenerys Targaryen and Ted Lasso. [35]
An early access version was released on July 19 for participants of selected events, including the game's closed playtests and those competing in the game's first 2v2 tournament at the 2022 Evolution Championship Series, and via Twitch's Drops reward system and purchasable founder's packs. [36] During the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con event, Rick Sanchez, Morty Smith and LeBron James were announced as playable characters. [37] The open beta was released on July 26, 2022, serving as a soft launch for the game. [38] [39] Throughout the open beta, a Founder's Pack paid-DLC was sold through Steam, the Epic Games Store, the Microsoft Store, and the PlayStation Store. It was available in Standard, Deluxe, and Premium editions. [40]
During the open beta, Bugs Bunny players held the number-one ranked slot in both 1-v-1 and 2-v-2 leaderboards. [41] The character's prevalence among top-ranked 2-v-2 players was notable, [41] leading to changes to Bugs' abilities and those of Wonder Woman implemented after EVO 2022. [42] [43] During the open beta, various characters' abilities were frequently modified. [44] A notable instance is one of Velma Dinkley's abilities; the police car featured in that move was replaced with the Mystery Machine. [45]
MultiVersus' first season was originally scheduled to launch on August 9, 2022, but was delayed to August 15. [46] [47] The game's second and final season during open beta launched on November 15. [48]
On March 27, 2023, it was announced that the open beta would end on June 25, and the game would go offline in preparation for a full launch on May 28, 2024. [49] This was despite the developer's previous promise when the open beta launched, having stated "MultiVersus hits Open Beta on July 26 and then we’re here to stay." [50] Offline functionality was retained during the downtime, but the game was made unobtainable for new players. [51]
In March 2024, it was announced that MultiVersus would relaunch on May 28, 2024 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. It will feature full cross-play and cross-progression support, and include a new PvE game mode. For the full launch, Player First Games moved the game to Unreal Engine 5. [52]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | (PC) 78/100 [53] (PS5) 80/100 [54] (XSXS) 80/100 [55] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Game Informer | 8/10 [56] |
GameSpot | 8/10 [57] |
IGN | 8/10 [58] |
PC Gamer (US) | 78/100 [59] |
Push Square | [60] |
The game received generally positive reviews during its open beta. IGN wrote "MultiVersus may not be a must-play at social gatherings, but its refreshing team-based battles make it a great platform fighter online." Play summarized that it was "full of love for the characters, and crunchy to play, you owe it to yourself to give this a go – though the monetisation methods are off-putting."
Its launch on Steam was the most successful for a WB Games title, and the biggest launch for a fighting game released on the platform. [61]
The game topped the American sales charts for July 2022, [62] falling to number 5 the following month. [63] It was the most downloaded game on the US PlayStation Store for the same month, and number 2 in Europe. [64] It also topped the sales charts in Australia. [65] It was the most popular title on the Steam Deck platform. [66]
By August 2022, the game had reached 10 million players. [67] By September, it had reached 20 million. [68] By February 2023, the game experienced a significant drop in daily players, which a Kotaku article attributed to a lack of updates and new characters. [69] Trackers for the Steam version reported an average daily peak of roughly 1,300 players over the last 30 days, marking the title's lowest player count since launch. [70] The announcement of the closure of the open beta surprised players who believed that the game was already fully released and had paid for premium content. [69] [71]
Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | Golden Joystick Awards | Best Multiplayer Game | Nominated | [72] |
The Game Awards 2022 | Best Multiplayer Game | Nominated | [73] | |
Best Fighting Game | Won | |||
2023 | 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards | Fighting Game of the Year | Won | [74] [75] |
Princess Peach is a character in Nintendo's Mario franchise. She was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and introduced in the 1985 original Super Mario Bros. game as Princess Toadstool. She is the princess regnant and head of state of the Mushroom Kingdom, where she resides in her castle along with Toads. Since her debut, she has appeared in the majority of Mario video games as the main female character and the romantic interest of Mario. She has been voiced by Samantha Kelly since 2007.
Mewtwo is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon media franchise. It was first introduced in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue, and later appeared in subsequent sequels and spin-off titles, such as Pokkén Tournament and Detective Pikachu. In the video games, the player can fight and capture Mewtwo in order to subsequently pit it against other Pokémon. The player first learns of Mewtwo late in Pokémon Red and Blue by reading research documents left in a ruined laboratory on Cinnabar Island. Mewtwo is regarded as one of the series' strongest Pokémon, and was the strongest in the original games in terms of base statistic distribution. It is known as the "Genetic Pokémon" and is a Legendary Pokémon, a special group of Pokémon that are very rare and usually very powerful. Mewtwo has also appeared in various animated adaptations of the franchise.
Squirtle, known as Zenigame (ゼニガメ) in Japan, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. It was designed by Atsuko Nishida. Its name was changed from Zenigame to Squirtle during the English localization of the series in order to give it a "clever and descriptive name." In animated appearances, Squirtle is voiced in Japanese by Rikako Aikawa and in English localizations by Eric Stuart, and later Michele Knotz.
Ridley, also known by his aliases Geoform 187 and the Cunning God of Death, is a fictional supervillain and the main antagonist of the Metroid series. An evil and aggressive draconic extraterrestrial hailing from the planet Zebes, he became Samus Aran's archnemesis after murdering the latter's parents as he led a Space Pirate raid on her homeworld. Though having been destroyed numerous times by Samus, he is always resurrected, due in equal part to Space Pirate engineering and his natural regenerative ability, which allows him to swiftly recover from what would otherwise be fatal wounds as long as he is able to consume enough biomatter from his fallen adversaries.
Super Smash Bros. is a crossover platform fighting game series published by Nintendo. The series was created by Masahiro Sakurai, who has directed every game in the series. The series is known for its unique gameplay objective which differs from that of traditional fighters, in that the aim is to increase damage counters and knock opponents off the stage instead of depleting life bars.
Little Mac is a fictional boxer and the protagonist in Nintendo's Punch-Out!! series of video games. He first appeared in the Arcade game Punch-Out!!. He is the smallest and youngest of all the boxers in the games, being only 17 years old across all Punch-Out!! games. His signature attack is the "STAR Punch". His design was changed for the SNES Super Punch-Out!!, but reverted to his original design in the Wii title. In the NES and Wii games, Little Mac is accompanied by Doc Louis, his trainer.
Samus Aran is the protagonist of the video game series Metroid by Nintendo. She was created by the Japanese video game designer Makoto Kano and was introduced as a player character in the original 1986 game Metroid.
Charizard, known in Japan as Lizardon, is a Pokémon in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Atsuko Nishida, Charizard first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels. They have later appeared in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise. Shin-ichiro Miki voices Charizard in both the Japanese and English-language versions of the anime. An orange, dragon-like Pokémon, Charizard is the evolved form of Charmeleon and the final evolution of Charmander. It also has two "Mega Evolved" forms, Mega Charizard X and Y, that were likely both designed by Tomohiro Kitakaze, the designer of Mega Charizard X. It also has a Gigantamax form in Pokémon Sword and Shield, which changes its appearance and size.
Super Smash Bros. is a 1999 crossover fighting game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was first released in Japan on January 21, 1999, in North America on April 26, 1999, and in Europe on November 19, 1999. The first installment in the Super Smash Bros. series, it is a crossover between several different Nintendo franchises, including Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Metroid, F-Zero, Mother, Kirby, and Pokémon. It presents a cast of characters and locations from these franchises and allows players to use each character's unique skills and the stage's hazards to inflict damage, recover health, and ultimately knock opponents off the stage.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, both commonly referred together as Super Smash Bros. 4, are 2014 crossover platform fighter video games developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U video game consoles. It is the fourth installment in the Super Smash Bros. series, succeeding Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The Nintendo 3DS version was released in Japan on September 13, 2014, and in North America, Europe, and Australia the following month. The Wii U version was released in North America, Europe, and Australia in November 2014 and in Japan the following month.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is a 2012 crossover fighting video game developed by SuperBot Entertainment, in conjunction with Bluepoint Games, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It features various characters drawn from different PlayStation video game franchises competing against each other in multiplayer battles. The game was released in November 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita video game consoles.
Super Smash Flash is a series of fighting browser games published by McLeodGaming, led by Gregory McLeod under the alias Cleod9. It is based on the Super Smash Bros series. The original Super Smash Flash is based specifically on Super Smash Bros. Melee. Its follow-up, also considered a reboot, is Super Smash Flash 2. The developer is currently working on an original crossover fighting game, Fraymakers.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a 2018 crossover fighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the Super Smash Bros. series, succeeding Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (2014). The game follows the series' traditional style of gameplay, in which players control one of the various characters and use attacks to weaken their opponents and knock them out of an arena. It features a wide variety of game modes, including a single-player campaign and multiplayer versus modes. Ultimate features 89 playable fighters, including all characters from previous Super Smash Bros. games as well as newcomers. The roster ranges from Nintendo characters to those from third-party franchises.
Robin, also known in the game as Avatar, is a player avatar from Nintendo's Fire Emblem video game series, who first appeared in Fire Emblem Awakening as its lead character. In the story of Fire Emblem Awakening, the Avatar awakens in a grassy field and is found by Chrom and his sister Lissa, but suffers from amnesia. Despite this, Robin is a skilled fighter and serves as the main tactician in the army. Robin is the eventual parent of Morgan and the child of Validar. Following their appearance in Awakening, Robin received more widespread attention from their playable appearances, including the Super Smash Bros. series.
Banjo & Kazooie are a pair of fictional video game characters and the eponymous protagonists of the video game series Banjo-Kazooie, created by British video game developer Rare. Banjo and Kazooie were both introduced as player characters in the original Banjo-Kazooie (1998). Banjo is a honey bear who is accompanied by Kazooie, a bird who is often seen seeking shelter in Banjo's backpack and emerging to perform various moves and attacks. The pair's numerous adventures usually pit them against the evil witch Gruntilda.
The Piranha Plant, known as Pakkun Flower in Japan, is a fictional plant species from Nintendo's Mario franchise media. It usually appears as a leafy green stalk topped with a white-spotted red or green globe, with a maw lined with sharp teeth reminiscent of piranhas. Piranha Plants are typically portrayed as tethered enemies which emerge from green-coloured "warp pipes" scattered throughout the game world that player characters must evade or overcome, though multiple subspecies with different abilities as well as physical attributes have appeared in various titles: some may simply stick up from the ground, and in some cases even walk freely on its own roots.
Minecraft is a media franchise developed from and centered around the video game of the same name. Primarily developed by Mojang Studios, the franchise consists of five video games, along with various books, merchandise, events, and an upcoming theatrical film. Microsoft acquired Mojang Studios in 2014, alongside the Minecraft franchise and its editions.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is a 2021 crossover fighting game developed by Ludosity and Fair Play Labs, and published by GameMill Entertainment. It is part of the Nickelodeon Super Brawl series of browser games and mobile games, serving as its first console game. Featuring characters from various Nickelodeon animated television series, the game was released on October 5, 2021, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A sequel, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, released in 2023.
Steve is a player character from the 2011 sandbox video game Minecraft. Created by Swedish video game developer Markus "Notch" Persson and introduced in the 2009 Java-based version, Steve is one of nine default player character skins available for players of contemporary versions of Minecraft. Steve lacks an official backstory as he is intended to be a customizable player avatar as opposed to being a predefined character. His feminine counterpart, Alex, was introduced in August 2014 for Java PC versions of Minecraft, with the other seven debuting in the Java edition of the game in October 2022. Depending on the version of Minecraft, players have a choice of defaulting to either Steve or any other variant skins when creating a new account. However, the skin is easy to change from the game itself or website.
It is set to release in 2022 for consoles and PC, and will be free-to-play.