MultiVersus Might be Following in New World's Footsteps

The recent announcement from Player First Games that its action-brawler MultiVersus would 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. While MultiVersus initially appeared as a potential competitor to the Super 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 count has 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 MMO New World from its beta to launch. Unless Player First Games is able to find away to regenerate the initial hype for MultiVersus come its full release, the game may struggle to find a player base when it re-launches.

MultiVersus May Be Doomed to Repeat New World's Mistakes

Prior to its release in 2021, New World was 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 that New World was 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 for New 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 dropped to 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 World has not come close to reaching that same level of activity achieved in the first month of its release.

It's beginning to look like MultiVersus could be in the same boat as New World, given the strong start its open beta had and the dwindling player count in the months since. While it may have won Best 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. Like New World, MultiVersus players 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 how New World was touted as a new MMO to potentially rival the likes of World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 14, MultiVerus' status as Super 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 than New World's beta-to-launch window did for its release, the similarities between the two releases does not bode well for MultiVersus. Players will have to wait until next year to see how MultiVersus aims to bring its player base back into the fold.