Fighting Games Friday: In the MultiVersus of Madness

It’s been several months since Warner Bros. revealed MultiVersus, a Smash Bros. clone multiplayer fighting title featuring several characters from the company’s catalogue. You could, by this logic, say this was the game teased in the prolonged second act of Space Jam: A New Legacy, a prediction that could fully become prescient considering its main star is on the leaked list. A solid roster slate was announced with the reveal, a sign of just how many characters will be included and as a response to the badly-kept secret of the game’s existence before WB was ready to confirm it. They never stopped providing news about it, but the marketing campaign seriously kicked into gear this week.

Plenty of identifiable characters were previously shown in detail (and featured in the last post I made about the game). They included the likes of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Tom and Jerry, Steven Universe, “Super” Shaggy Rogers (in the developers having no choice but to realize all those memes), and Arya Stark from Game of Thrones in animated form (with Maisie Williams reprising the role). But several others have been officially revealed since then, including The Iron Giant (thus perhaps betraying the movie’s ultimate message), The Tasmanian Devil, and Velma Dinkley (who fits into a fighting game as well as Phoenix Wright in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3). The game will even have original characters like Reindog, to establish how it occurs in a unique world that other characters have been teleported to for story reasons.

The roster is shaping up to be a good one, and they’re avoiding the mistake that Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl made by actually including character personalities. (It’s clear which game among those two actually has a budget.) But there’s still cause for concern with the final roster thanks to the plethora of franchises WB owns after the sheer number of mergers they’ve been involved with over the years. There’s similarly concern that some characters won’t make it in thanks to belonging to companies they’re considering parting with, given the penny pinching being done by the new leadership at Warner Bros. Discovery.

It would be a serious missed opportunity if Scorpion doesn’t make it in, given his small-but-consequential skirmish with Super Shaggy. There cannot be full Meme Realization if he’s not in. I know that he and Sub-Zero were part of various datamined lists, but I’m still concerned if WB is considering selling NetherRealm Studios. I’m also sad that no one from Wacky Races is on the current roster or the leaked list, given how Dick Dastardly and Muttley would fit right in. Maybe they forgot they own it among the Hanna-Barbera franchises, or “Dick Dastardly” is just too on-the-nose these days. But I’m particularly shocked to see no sign of Daffy Duck thus far. I refuse to believe that he won’t be in this, but he’s popular enough that you’d think he’d be among the first faces shown.

Going beyond the roster: It’s nice that WB isn’t skimping on this game’s budget, and are giving Player First Games plenty of resources to make the best Smash Bros.-style game they can with multiple IPs at their disposal. Most of the characters have voices, and the team is still in the process of making modifications to the visuals and gameplay style for the better, the former to improve the character model quality and ensure that they blend better with the backgrounds. It was always clear that Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl would have trouble out the gate to many potential fans with the low budget Nickelodeon afforded it, but it stood less of a chance than even the biggest pessimists expected. But it’s still holding on despite the raw deals given to its development studios

Given the reception it’s received through press previews and the closed alpha currently running, there’s potential for MultiVersus to be the most successful Smash Bros.-style game yet. It’s not like there’s much competition there. I’ve said enough about Nick ASB, but the only other viable competition was PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, a game buried by a roster full of questionable choices and its developer going bankrupt shortly after its release. MultiVersus is avoiding the mistakes of its non-Smash predecessors thus far.

I just wish it wasn’t primarily a free-to-play title. I’d much rather have a game with a large base roster that comes with a set price. It’s possible WB might plan on offering that anyway through a separate option, but the pricing could prove difficult for them to get right for two crowds with different preferences. Regardless of which they choose, it’s already clear that the f2p option will be the main one for the larger audience they intend to attract.

Given its f2p nature, in fact, MultiVersus could release very soon. The closed alpha will run until May 27th, while the open beta will occur in July. The main game might arrive afterward with a sufficient-enough roster, assuming everything goes smoothly with the alpha and beta. The signs are pretty good.

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