The Warner Bros. crossover fighter returns with more characters and modes, but is it enough to make it a long term success? During its beta run , MultiVersus was the textbook example of how quickly live service games can rise and fall. When it launched back in July 2022, the free-to-play platform fighter rocketed to 10 million players within three weeks, setting it up as a potentially legitimate rival to Super Smash Bros.
Ultimate in terms of popularity. Six months later, as the new content schedule started to dry up, the player base had dropped by 99% on Steam. While it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what caused this dramatic slide, ensuring longevity is the biggest hurdle facing MultiVersus in its full launch.
It’s clear developer Player First Games have made some steps to address this issue, along with revamping the general fighting mechanics for the better, but the biggest question is whether a casual fighting game like this is actually suited to the free-to-play model, which hinges on frequent daily play. When stripped to its core, MultiVersus in this incarnation is more fun than it’s ever been. If you missed the first round, this is essentially the same premise as Nintendo’s platform fighter: up to four players batter against one another to rack up each other’s damage percentage, which makes it easier to smack them off the stage for a knockout.
Aside from the roster of Warner Bros. characters, the main difference when compared to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the .
