The recent announcement from Player First Games that its action-brawlerMultiVersuswould be ending its open beta in preparation for a 2024 launch came as a surprise to many players. The game has been in open beta since July 2022 and will go offline almost a year later in June 2023. WhileMultiVersusinitially appeared as a potential competitor to theSuper Smash Bros.series, utilizing characters like Batman, Bugs Bunny, Arya Stark, and others from Warner Bros. properties, the game may be shooting itself in the foot with this strange release strategy, echoing the disappointing launch of Amazon Games’New World.
Despite having a strong launch into its open beta period,MultiVersus' player counthas seen a significant drop-off in recent months even while continuing to offer seasonal content updates, including new characters. This decline in active players is not a great sign for a game still in its beta period, and is eerily similar to the trajectory of the once-hyped MMONew Worldfrom its beta to launch. Unless Player First Games is able to find away to regenerate the initial hype forMultiVersuscome its full release, the game may struggle to find a player base when it re-launches.
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MultiVersus May Be Doomed to Repeat New World’s Mistakes
Prior to its release in 2021,New Worldwas looking to be Amazon Games' first big success story; previews for the game were quite positive and there was a lot of hype going into its closed beta in June of that year. Despite reports from this closed beta thatNew Worldwas bricking certain graphics cards, Amazon Games persisted and announced an open beta for the game in early September 2021 before the game’s full launch at the end of the month. This open beta proved to be largely successful as many players flocked to try out the game, renewing hype for the MMO with just a short window until its release.
The strong showing forNew World’s open beta seemed to successfully translate into a solid launch for the game as well, with a peak of over 900,000 concurrent players in its launch month. However, this success would not last as by December that same year,New World’s player count had droppedto just over 100,000 and in the time since has continued to drop to only a fraction of that number. Even with continued updates to the game,New Worldhas not come close to reaching that same level of activity achieved in the first month of its release.
It’s beginning to look likeMultiVersuscould be in the same boat asNew World,given the strong start its open beta had and the dwindling player count in the months since. While it may have wonBest Fighting Game at the 2022 Game Awards, having its beta last for so long may have inadvertently burned players out on the game before it even reached its true launch. LikeNew World,MultiVersusplayers may have already gotten their fill of the game before it even launches, potentially leading to a kneecapped player base upon full release.
Similarly to howNew Worldwas touted as a new MMO to potentially rival the likes ofWorld of WarcraftandFinal Fantasy 14,MultiVerus' status asSuper Smash Bros. competitor may have set it up with higher expectations than Player First Games was ready to deliver on. While this gambit of taking the game offline before its full release in 2024 may pay off better thanNew World’s beta-to-launch windowdid for its release, the similarities between the two releases does not bode well forMultiVersus. Players will have to wait until next year to see howMultiVersusaims to bring its player base back into the fold.
MultiVersusis available now in open beta for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
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