Some games have an extremely strong launch, but then fizzle out. MultiVersus manages to do that twice – despite Batman, Superman and Tom & Jerry.
There’s now a nice term for the successive shutdown of a game that’s cropping up more and more: sunsetting. A few planned pieces of content still appear, the servers remain up for a while, then at some point the shutdown follows. Game over.
However, publisher Warner Bros. Games currently has a lot of sunsetting to do. Just recently, we reported that the failed Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is being phased out, and according to rumors, Mortal Kombat 1 is also gradually on the road to sunset. And now: MultiVersus, a fighting game that actually got off to a fantastic start – twice.
MultiVersus kicks off its fifth and final season on February 5, 2025, with Aquaman and Lola Bunny joining the fray as new fighters.The season runs until May 30, 2025, when the servers will be shut down.
Hey all, I wanted to say a few words as I reflect on the recently announced news about MultiVersus. While I’m sad about the outcome, I will forever be grateful for the opportunity given to us by Warner Bros. Games and to each and every developer on the Player First Games and WB…
— Tony Huynh (@Tony_Huynh) February 2, 2025
Rise and Fall of MultiVersus
MultiVersus sold a simple but wonderful dream: to pit all the major Warner Bros. brands against each other. So Batman beats up Agent Smith from the Matrix, Tom & Jerry beat up Arya Stark from Game of Thrones and Bugs Bunny pulls Shaggy and Velma’s ears. So it’s kind of like Nintendo’s Smash Bros., only with different brands:
At launch in 2022, the concept was a huge success. 153,000 concurrent players on Steam alone – absolute dream numbers for a fighting game. But after a few weeks, the player numbers crashed harder than a trap gone wrong on Wile E. Coyote. Suddenly, even at its daily peak, MultiVersus had barely 3,000 active players.
The real upset then followed in March 2023. The game was retroactively declared an open beta and simply shut down, even though people had been able to spend real money on in-game stuff for months. The relaunch followed in 2024, again with overwhelming success, with over 100,000 players active at the same time. But once again, MultiVersus didn’t last long – the live numbers plummeted, and currently only 200 people play the game on Steam at the same time.
The remaining fans are angry
Especially on X, there is a lot of anger about the shutdown of MultiVersus in May. Many people accuse the developers of not listening to fans and making bizarre balancing and update decisions. MultiVersus has moved too far away from its strengths, new characters are disappointing, the grind is too intense, and so on.
MultiVersus’ Game Director Tony Huynh addressed the closure in a long post on X, also addressing fan criticism:
Hey all, I wanted to say a few words as I reflect on the recently announced news about MultiVersus. While I’m sad about the outcome, I will forever be grateful for the opportunity given to us by Warner Bros. Games and to each and every developer on the Player First Games and WB…
— Tony Huynh (@Tony_Huynh) February 2, 2025
In part, it literally says:
Hello everyone, I wanted to say a few words about the recently announced news about MultiVersus. While I am saddened by the outcome, I will forever be grateful for the opportunity Warner Bros. Games gave us and for every single developer on the Player First Games and WB Games teams. I also thank all the brand owners for entrusting us with their babies. We hope we have authentically portrayed the characters and that they feel authentic to their fans. I couldn’t be more proud of the work the PFG team has done. Their endless creativity and passion has inspired and amazed me time and time again. And of course, I want to thank every player who has ever played or supported MultiVersus.
But elsewhere, he also criticizes the nasty tone in the comments:
I know this is painful for everyone, and I know every member of PFG feels it too, but I have to address this, you have a right to say and think what you want, but when there are threats of harm, the line is crossed. I hope you can take a step back and realize this is a very sad time for the team. I’m very sad about the game. Nobody wanted this outcome, and it wasn’t for a lack of care or effort.
Either way, the shutdown of MultiVersus in May 2025 will now not change. What do you think about the end of the game? Would you have liked a longer lifespan? Or are you so wrapped up in Marvel Rivals that you don’t care about Batman and Co.? Let us and Batman know.
