MultiVersus announced that it is shutting down permanently, leaving its fanbase in shock.
After debuting in early access back in 2022, and going away for about a year, the Warner Bros. platform fighter finally received a full launch back in May 2024.
The game combines WB's iconic worlds in a Smash Bros. style team-up, pitting characters like Arya Stark, Batman, and LeBron James against each other in heated multiplayer battles.
The End of MultiVersus Is Here
After less than a year since its launch, MultVersus will be shutting down permanently.
On January 31, the online platform fighter, which only released its 1.0 in May 2024 was announced to be ramping down development, with support for the title officially coming to an end on May 30 at 9 a.m. ET.
"Season 5 will serve as the final update for Multiversus," the development team wrote on the game's various social platforms, adding that this new content season would run from Tuesday, February 4 to May 30:
"Season 5 will serve as the final update for 'MultiVersus,' beginning 2/4/25 and ending 5/30/25. After Season 5 ends, players will be able to enjoy the game offline for the forseeable future. Visit our blog post and FAQ for more details. Thank you for the support throughout this journey."
It was also made clear the game will remain playable offline for players who already have it downloaded; however, after that May 30 date, it will be delisted from digital storefronts.
Following up on the initial announcement, the MultiVersus dev team shared a statement for the game's shuttering. In a post on the game's official website, the developers wrote, "This decision was not made lightly," but failed to offer any specific reasoning for its shutting down:
Q: "Why is Season 5 the final season for 'MultiVersus?'"
A: "This decision was not made lightly. All of us on the Player First Games and Warner Bros. Games teams have put our heart and soul into 'MultiVersus,' creating a unique social and cooperative experience from the ground up that brings together a variety of popular characters and worlds. We are very proud of the game we’ve built and are incredibly thankful for the support of the 'MultiVersus' community throughout this journey. Your passion and enthusiasm have been unmatched."
Game director Tony Huynh addressed things a bit more personally in a lengthy message on his X page. " I couldn’t be prouder of the work the [Player First Games] team did," Huynh wrote, saying that through the whole process "delighting and serving players is Player First Games objective:"
"To every IP holder thank you for entrusting us with your babies, we hope we made the characters true to themselves and felt authentic to your fans. I couldn’t be prouder of the work the PFG team did. Their endless creativity and passion never ceased to inspire and amaze me. And of course I wanted to thank every player who has ever played or supported 'MultiVersus.' Delighting and serving players is Player First Games objective."
He also pointed to fans, apologizing that the team did not have the chance to get to their favorite characters. There were plenty of leaked characters from the game that never saw the light of day (read more about all the leaked MultiVersus characters), and Huynh and the team seem to know that:
"I’m sorry if we couldn’t get to your favorite character. I do think Aquaman and Lola are really cool and I hope you all check them out. Character selection comes down to bunch of things including development time, listening to what the community wants, working with IP holders and approvals, if there is a cross-marketing opportunity available to support, and of course if the team is inspired to make the character. So a lot goes into to it."
This announcement (and the ensuing message from Huynh) received widespread backlash from fans, including threats of violence from several people online.
Community manager Ajax responded to the online reaction to the game's shuttering, saying that while this is a hard time, "Receiving threats of physical harm... is not and will never be the way:"
"I know things aren't the best right now and everyone is looking for answers. Receiving threats of physical harm against him is not and will never be the way.
PFG poured their heart into this game and we still hope everyone enjoys season 5. We never stopped pushing for improvements and again you will see 50 pages worth of them this season. I hope everyone can take the time to read through what Tony has to say, and I hope you will all think things through."
Why Did MultiVersus Fail?
Unofficially, many players attribute the game's failure and its ensuring shutdown to its monetization strategy, as additional fighters have to be purchased a la carte and cosmetic purchases ballooned in price during the game's relatively short life.
Some claim this sort of monetization model was simply not sustainable for the title, especially given the relative lack of player base. To put it into perspective (outside of its launch month), the game peaked at a concurrent player count of just over 13,000 on Steam (via SteamDB).
In comparison, another free-to-play fighter, Brawlhalla, (which was released over eight years ago), averages 10,000 to 14,000 players on Steam at any given time throughout the day.
Part of Multiversus' player count problem likely had something to do with the unorthodox way the game was initially released. First put into early access in July 2022, receiving rave reviews upon its initial test release.
However, Multiversus' early access was taken offline in June 2023. It would then be just under a year until the title's 1.0 release arrived in May 2024, and it would never recapture the zeitgeist like it during its initial early access release.
This likely had to do with players moving on to other games, as well as complaints with the title's full-game release including it feeling slower to some, a lack of cosmetics coming over from the beta, and underbaked new features. These gripes became commonplace among fans, and most of them remain unaddressed to this day.
Simply put, the game seemingly ran out of steam after its early access period and could not recapture audiences in the hyper-competitive games-as-a-service space when it did eventually return for its full release.
MultiVersus is now available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.
