MultiVersus may not have fallen to the level of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, but this F2P game may never again threaten Super Smash.
Another great competitor to Super Smash Bros. not going so well. This week, MultiVersus activity numbers on Steam fell below 1000 for the first time (via SteamDB). In this way the game has lost over 99% of players since its launch in July..
A similar trend is happening on consoles. Granted, we don’t even have quasi-official stats, but True Achievements claims that of the initial number of MultiVersus players on Xbox, only around 4% of users released the game in the last week.
Lack of content and expensive microtransactions
When MultiVersus debuted in July 2022, it looked like the team at Player First Games had done their homework. No mistakes were made like in the case of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (including the lack of voice acting at launch), and the game’s monetization system seemed relatively well balanced. The game also received post-launch support, adding five characters in the first season.
However, since the start of season 2 in November, players have received only one character – Marciano Marvin. This is partly due to the interaction between characters from different brands of Warner Bros., beloved by players, but requiring the constant recording of new lines of dialogue for all combatants.
The second season of MultiVersus did not abound in novelties. Source: Game Player First / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
Additionally, the developer has delayed the release of the third season to give players more time to unlock content from the previous one. Instead of this week, it won’t be released until March 31. The players were, to put it mildly, irritated by the decision. Especially from They are still waiting for the possible incorporation of a local multiplayer mode.
On top of that, there are claims about microtransactions. No, MultiVersus doesn’t give a bang for the buck, but many skins can only be purchased with premium currency and can be priced up to $15.. In fact, such a sum is equivalent to 1,500 Gleamium, for which one will buy, among other things, a golden Superman and Velma in a Hawaiian outfit.
Super Smash Bros. isn’t it enough?
It should also be mentioned that MultiVersus not a true copy of Super Smash Bros.. Player First Games’ work is based on a similar premise (it’s the same genre, after all), but there are also some differences.
Some are obvious, such as the increased focus on team battles, but there are significant changes to game presentation and gameplay mechanics (e.g. characters “float” more in the air and the power of attacks is less noticeable than in SSB). As a result some fans of Nintendo’s crossplay quickly bounced back from MultiVersus.
The character glided through the air too lightly, and the perceived lack of “weight” of the attacks put off some MultiVersus SSB fans. Source: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate/Nintendo.
To be fair, we have to add that the title still performs much better than another potential contender in Nintendo’s platform fighting game series. NASB was struggling to attract even hundreds of players at once after just four months (via SteamDB). Today, it is practically impossible for the fighting game with Spongebob and company to be published at the same time by 50 Steam users.
Another big downfall for the game, though, which also got off to a much better start than NASB. The title even loses with much older ones and also free-to-play brawlhalla. Blue Mammoth Games’ work has never drawn the crowds like MultiVersus (well-known brands do their thing), but even after more than 5 years, every day the game is played by tens of thousands of Steam users at that time. . (through SteamDB).
Maybe Player First Games will still manage to turn the tide in season three. Otherwise, we’ll have further proof that big licenses alone aren’t enough to match the Super Smash Bros. phenomenon.