Warner Bros Multiversus - Another Fucking Smash Clone

[Basic Blond Boy]

Well, this game fell off hard. Last character to join was a month ago, and it was Marvin The Martian. Season 2 has been a massive disappointment with one new character and just a few skins. While the bug fixes they are doing are great, along with the additions of ranked mode, spectator mode, and much more, you can tell the hype is dead. They really need to bring in a big character, yet the two we are being told are coming are the Joker and the Wicked Witch of The West, hardly the type of characters to get excited over.

If they really want to bring players back, they need to release a Walter White tier character about now. The main characters this game’s audience wants are CN based, DC (outside of Batman), or Breaking Bad. They should maybe really start tapping into those to build hype.

Black Adam but not the Rock?

Ooof for the rock.

Your wish has been granted recently.

 

[LucasSomething]

I've been doing my dailies ever since season 2 started and it's sad how the game is dying .

Half my 2v2 matches are super stomps against 1-5 newbies or from double 30+ morty duos and the other half someone is a bot so it's GG, it's 1v3 and you need a miracle to pull it off. Free for all que is dead with +2 minutes for me. Almost every match has someone laggy or teleporting. I dont care about the random wacky mode.



i actually managed to win here but it was sweaty


Next character is joker and it's such an obvious lazy pick that literally no one is hyped for it. Marvin was actually an interesting pick and no one was hype either since the game has ZERO marketing. My brothers played with me when this game released and they had no idea it's on season two.

The only reason i play daily is because i want that SINGLE free skin from the battle pass and event and i really like playing Superman and T&J. At least the superman skin is nice but it will take me 2~ week to get there.

If this game wants to live it needs better marketing and incentives to play. They could add Goku tomorrow and no one would notice or talk about it.

 

[Gender: Xenomorph]

Reading Marvin's moveset, the devs definitely have unique ideas and know how to make interesting characters.

However, what kills it for me is the shitty netcode. I'm not sure what happened, but enemies always seem to be zooming or teleporting around. Heck, sometimes hits don't register or are completely off. That doesn't feel nice in a fast paced fighting game.

Another thing is, the battle passes are shit. You get 2 shitty skins and you can't even grind for the next battle pass price. I'm not expecting something like DotA2's, but they feel really barebones and not worth it. Even The Cycle and Realm Royale had better passes.

It's sad to see that the effort for this game will go to waste and this game will join the games-as-a-service graveyard. I think if they released it as a standalone fighting game with DLC fighters, this game would have been great. But it had to follow the games-as-a-service trend and aimed to become an eSport, failed miserably and will be forgotten...

 

[Basic Blond Boy]

It's sad to see that the effort for this game will go to waste and this game will join the games-as-a-service graveyard. I think if they released it as a standalone fighting game with DLC fighters, this game would have been great. But it had to follow the games-as-a-service trend and aimed to become an eSport, failed miserably and will be forgotten...

I hope that if this game does die, that a physical release with all content releases so that it isn’t completely dead. Too much good content to lose.

Next character is joker and it's such an obvious lazy pick that literally no one is hyped for it. Marvin was actually an interesting pick and no one was hype either since the game has ZERO marketing. My brothers played with me when this game released and they had no idea it's on season two.

I said it above, but this game doesn’t seem to get its audience. Majority of the people invested want CN franchises, the Teen Titans, or meme picks like Walter White. Looking at the leaks, the game is giving them the Joker and The Wicked Witch instead. The game didn’t build up the momentum needed to pull this. Mr. White should have been an announced character by now. Hell, so much of the roster just seems like wrong timing.

 

[Basic Blond Boy]

Seems like Joker may have been switched out for next character. Leaks are now pointing towards the Goonies franchise being used for the next character release.

Hoes mad over this news as it isn’t a CN character.

I have no idea what the goal is for this game at this point. A good chunk of the character reveals seem targeted at gen Xers who largely don’t even know the game exists. Meanwhile the Millennial/Zoomer audience that does play it is bleeding out fast. They really need a course correction by the start of next year.

 

[Blue Miaplacidus]

I broke into 1k solo queueing 2s, hovering in the 1.5-2k range for 1s. The whiff patch has been made a huge difference for me. I feel like I can combo and juggle so much easier, I've been playing black adam but he's OP and he's definitely going to get nerfed so I've been playing morty and harley. Morty isn't as good as harley but I love landing his combos and using side special to edge bait people.

 

[SteelPlatedHeart]

I’ve still been having a lot of fun with the game, so I haven’t really noticed any falloff. Not that I’m saying it isn’t there, just that I’ve been satisfied with the game still and didn’t personally experience it. The lack of character releases this season is a bit odd, but I typically only play Gizmo, Reindog and Finn, so it’s not affecting me too much. This season seems more about getting the core stuff more stable and fixing everything more than releasing brand new characters and such though. I have been really enjoying the Christmas event, the costumes are fun and the new game mode has been stupid fun.

 

[Blue Miaplacidus]

Having fun with morty, his side air special is so good for edge baiting and securing kills.

 

[SteelPlatedHeart]

I think one of the funniest things is fighting someone who’s clearly practiced one combo and one combo only to win, beating/countering it, and watching clearly getting pissed off about it only to rage quit after the match ends, win or lose.

 

[Blue Miaplacidus]

morty is so dirty.

 

[Celebrate Nite]

Article: https://appuals.com/multiversus-player-count-drops/
Archive: https://archive.md/JqrAD
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MultiVersus Faces Trouble as Player Count Drops by 99% Since Launch

MultiVersus has struggled to maintain its player base on Steam since its successful launch in 2022. According to SteamDB, the game’s daily peak player count has dropped by more than 99% since its launch; for context, the 24-hour steam peak of concurrent players dropped below 1000 earlier this week.

The game’s first season, which saw the release of five new characters, was well-received by players. However, the tepid response to the game’s second season, which saw the release of just one character since November 2022, could be a significant factor why players have left the platformer fighter. The game’s developer, PlayerFirst Games, recently announced that Season 3 would be delayed until 31st March 2023, giving players more time to complete their Season 2 battle pass.

Well, the plan didn’t work out as intended because the players criticized the studio for the lack of post-launch content for MutiVersus, and this delay in the seasonal update added fuel to the fire, making matters worse for players hoping for some new content to reignite their interest in the game.

In addition to the lack of new content, the game’s microtransaction system is also in hot waters. Many of the game’s character skins are locked behind a paywall, with some costing up to $15.

Besides Steam, MultiVersus is also not looking promising on consoles (at least Xbox) regarding player count, as reported by TrueAchievements,

"Based on our own Xbox Gameplay Chart data, MultiVersus’ player base seemingly started to wane even before the first season was over, and let’s not forget that this is a chart where free-to-play titles and live service games basically own the top spots. Last week’s player numbers, by our count, were down to just 4% of what they were at its peak back in August last year.”

MultiVersus’ drastic drop in daily players on Steam is a cause for concern, particularly for a free-to-play, live-service game that relies on a healthy player base to sustain itself. It remains to be seen whether the game’s delayed Season 3 content will be enough to bring players back, or whether the game’s reputation has been permanently damaged.
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[Gender: Xenomorph]

They killed it.

 

[Toxinophile]

It was good while it lasted, honestly. The sad fact of the matter was that the game was and still is sorely unfinished. The small development team probably didn't help since they couldn't keep up with their competitors in churning out content.

This game did have a big audience, and hopefully WB still sees the potential in Multiversus, otherwise I don't see this game lasting any longer than Nick All Stars Brawl

 

[Kheapathic]

The problem being, they will not capture the Smash community. One big reason is Smash is Nintendo, and Nintendo has their own brand of loyalty autism that I won't get into. The second is Smash feels a lot more polished than the pretenders that show up. You made a niche game that was flavor of the month, then it got old and people left; you know what Smash has/had that this didn't, unlockables. If you want to harness the videogame autism, you need unlockables; and not just a store where costumes and shit cost in game currency. You also need variation modes and shit. You made an autism hook, but didn't put any bait on it. There's other things I could get into about how the music and sound design are lacking and a lot of the hits don't feel like there's any weight behind them; but the main part is they didn't add anything for staying power that wasn't an obvious "Pay the fuck up piggy!"

 

[Gender: Xenomorph]

The problem being, they will not capture the Smash community. One big reason is Smash is Nintendo, and Nintendo has their own brand of loyalty autism that I won't get into. The second is Smash feels a lot more polished than the pretenders that show up. You made a niche game that was flavor of the month, then it got old and people left; you know what Smash has/had that this didn't, unlockables. If you want to harness the videogame autism, you need unlockables; and not just a store where costumes and shit cost in game currency. You also need variation modes and shit. You made an autism hook, but didn't put any bait on it. There's other things I could get into about how the music and sound design are lacking and a lot of the hits don't feel like there's any weight behind them; but the main part is they didn't add anything for staying power that wasn't an obvious "Pay the fuck up piggy!"

Imo here are the mistakes:
1) game as a service; these need a huge start and a constant audience.
2) they pandered to competitive crowd: the game never built an audience for people to get invested
3) shitty netcode
4) the battle pass was very lackluster
5) feels like it's missing something: I don't think the 2v2 focus was a good idea, matches felt too chaotic and you never could tell what's going on. Perks were nice, but didn't feel 'enough'. Maybe stages were too small and bland?

But it was a unique contender and it felt different enough to exist

 

[Kheapathic]

Imo here are the mistakes:
1) game as a service; these need a huge start and a constant audience.
2) they pandered to competitive crowd: the game never built an audience for people to get invested
3) shitty netcode
4) the battle pass was very lackluster
5) feels like it's missing something: I don't think the 2v2 focus was a good idea, matches felt too chaotic and you never could tell what's going on. Perks were nice, but didn't feel 'enough'. Maybe stages were too small and bland?

But it was a unique contender and it felt different enough to exist

I'm not disagreeing with any of that, but a lot of it is a focus on the competitive. Which is why I harp on unlockables, if the game doesn't grab your autism and keep you logging in to climb the ladder every day, what's gonna get your attention? You need something, something that grabs more than the try-hards. And like you said, making it a 2v2 was probably a mistake, and they needed more modes; like an arcade with silly bonus stages mixed in or something. And as for the battle pass; unless there's something that someone absolutely wants, they should know the FGC is fucking cheap and the only people who knowingly and willingly shell out for outfits and shit are tournament organizers so they can let everyone play their favorite color/costume.

It's almost like they did no market research or the suits put their nasty little fingers in to force certain things; which any competent person could tell you isn't a sound business decision.

 

[Toxinophile]

The problem being, they will not capture the Smash community. One big reason is Smash is Nintendo, and Nintendo has their own brand of loyalty autism that I won't get into. The second is Smash feels a lot more polished than the pretenders that show up. You made a niche game that was flavor of the month, then it got old and people left; you know what Smash has/had that this didn't, unlockables. If you want to harness the videogame autism, you need unlockables; and not just a store where costumes and shit cost in game currency. You also need variation modes and shit. You made an autism hook, but didn't put any bait on it. There's other things I could get into about how the music and sound design are lacking and a lot of the hits don't feel like there's any weight behind them; but the main part is they didn't add anything for staying power that wasn't an obvious "Pay the fuck up piggy!"

Smash has been in a league of its own for 20+ years. Obviously you can't compete with Smash so Multiversus tries to carve out a niche not as a smash clone, but rather a live service game like Fortnite and such. It's no feature complete retail game but for a F2P platform fighter I'd say there is merit for a game that held onto the public conscious for as long as it did. IT does seem like there is a demand for such a game like Multiversus, regardless of the novelty.

The real problem is that it can't even compete in those circles as well. Why play matches to tediously grind out missions and gold, when you can play a gacha on your phone or a Battle Royale game instead? Despite the utter predatory nature of such games they do understand how to build a proper progression system, a way to reward the player every so often to keep them engaged and playing. Comparatively, the progression system in Multiversus is dogshit, no other way to say it. These month long battle passes and holiday events give out the most meager of rewards for absurd amounts of effort for an average F2P player. There's also no real incentive to level up characters other than the tiny rewards and bragging rights.

The only real content people cared about were the characters and it seems like Player First Games has run dry already. When you have no news for a new character in like 2 months of course everybody is gonna stop caring. Hopefully when they reveal Samurai Jack or Walter White they'll start caring again.

 

[Basic Blond Boy]

Sad to see this game die, but I guess it was inevitable given the track record. Some information that supposedly came out was that the team was so small that one guy was working on modes. You know that snowbrawl mode, yeah, one guy made that.

Users on here talk about Smash and how it eats competition, but give some credit to CN Punch-Time XL and PS All-Stars, those two are still relevant. They may have lacked polish beyond belief, but unlike Nick or Multiversus, they were completed games.

Where Multiversus failed is pretty evident:

1. FTP - You can't do a FTP fighting game well. They just lack the replay-abilty for this.
2. Tried to go competitive while barely being able to fix issues.
3. Battlepass had nothing of value
4. No single player content, even Punch Time got this right.
5. WB isn't a brand like Nintendo, Cartoon Network, or Nick, the audience is too broad to gain any consensus.
6. Building off the last point, they had no idea what their audience was. They put in Gremlins and were rumored to be putting in Goonies. Bro, the audience of this game are Millennials and Zoomers, many of which have little connection to these IPs. It feels like the same mistake WB made with LEGO Dimensions, where they chase a Gen X audience when the people playing are kids who have no clue who Knight Rider is. The people playing this game wanted CN Punch Time 2, not an 80s baby game and got increasingly frustrated with choices like Gizmo or potentially The Wicked Witch.

 

[Kheapathic]

Sad to see this game die, but I guess it was inevitable given the track record. Some information that supposedly came out was that the team was so small that one guy was working on modes. You

WB isn't a brand like Nintendo, Cartoon Network, or Nick, the audience is too broad to gain any consensus.

Building off the last point, they had no idea what their audience was. They put in Gremlins and were rumored to be putting in Goonies. Bro, the audience of this game are Millennials and Zoomers, many of which have little connection to these IPs. It feels like the same mistake WB made with LEGO Dimensions, where they chase a Gen X audience when the people playing are kids who have no clue who Knight Rider is. The people playing this game wanted CN Punch Time 2, not an 80s baby game and got increasingly frustrated with choices like Gizmo or potentially The Wicked Witch.

You bring up an interesting point with this, and I'll admit the only person I know of who was hyped for these characters, was DarkSydePhil; because he is an internet boomer who talks a lot about 80's/90's shit that his younger viewerbase probably has no idea about. But you're right, outside of DC Comics, Hannah Barbara, or Looney Toon characters; anything older than 20 years old isn't gonna be relevant. And the generation that would know who Gizmo, Spike, and whatever else is; we're at the age where we wait and see, instead of OMG DAY 1 BUY!!!

 

[Professor Gaylord]

This game should've just been a Punch Time XL sequel in the first place. They already had a pretty decent roster of characters, and it would've made way more sense to pair the Nickelodeon smash clone with a Cartoon Network smash clone.