Today, Warner Bros. Games and Player First announced that the MultiVersus open beta will be shutting down in 90 days. The publisher and devs promise the game will return in “early 2024.” In the meantime, players will be unable to play online, and no new updates will be released. And in bad news for players who invested money into the game, WB Games has no current plans to offer refunds.
Released in July 2022, MultiVersus came out of the gate hot, becoming one of the most popular games on Steam. The platform fighter played a lot like Smash Bros., but instead of classic Nintendo characters, it featured a strange collection of fighters from WB-owned IP, like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, Superman from DC Comics, and Bugs Bunny from Looney Toons. Players enjoyed the free-to-play fighter, praising its combat and cross-play. But in the months that followed, many complained about a lack of updates and new characters. As of last month, most of the game’s PC audience was gone. Now, the folks behind the game are shutting it all down until next year in an effort, they say, to make the game better “the right way.”
In a post on the game’s official website, Player First Games co-founder and MultiVersus director Tony Huynh explained why the team was shutting down the open beta on June 25, saying that while it has been an “important learning opportunity” for the studio and a “stepping stone” to the next “phase” of the F2P fighter, there’s “still a lot of work to do.”
As a result, we have a clearer view of what we need to focus on, specifically the content cadence of new characters, maps, and modes to give you more ways to enjoy the game, along with updated netcode and more matchmaking improvements. We’ll also be reworking the progression system based on your feedback and looking at new ways for you to connect with your friends in the game.
To do this the right way, we will be closing the MultiVersus Open Beta on June 25, 2023. As part of this process, we’ll be pausing updates and taking the game offline as we prepare for the launch of MultiVersus, which we are targeting for early 2024.
During this extended downtime, all the game’s online modes and features will be unavailable. Players will also have limited offline access to the in-game training room and local matches. Elsewhere in the post, an FAQ confirms that MultiVersus is being completely delisted from digital stores on April 4. Premium currency will also be removed from the game during this extended shutdown.
That last part is worth noting. This is a game that was selling Founder’s Packs and in-game currency. It had a large cosmetic shop and premium battle passes. And all of that content will effectively be worthless once the MultiVersus’ servers shut down in June. In the FAQ, WB and the devs made it very clear that there will be no refunds, stating that refunds will not be available “as a result of the Open Beta” closing. However, all progress and content will carry over to MultiVersus when it returns next year.
Understandably, early reactions to this news are negative, as players demand refunds and question why the downtime will be so long. Some are also theorizing that the game may not return. However, at least for now, the developers behind MultiVersus are adamant that it will return in early 2024. We shall wait and see.
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