Summary
- MultiVersus features in-game seasons, battle passes, and storefront for premium skins.
- Controversy arose from a challenge tied to a paid-for skin, setting a concerning precedent.
- Players worry about future paywalled challenges and potential predatory microtransactions.
Fans are finally able to enjoy MultiVersus again following its official release on May 28, with many players having to once again get to grips with the game's wide range of in-game fighters. Of course, one of the largest appeals of the game is how it has pulled its characters from different Warner Brothers franchises, and this has allowed the title to market itself in a very unique way.
Like many modern releases, MultiVersus features in-game seasons, battle passes, and its own storefront where players can purchase things like eye-catching re-skins for their favorite characters. While this can be a great way for MultiVersus to monetize itself while keeping fans continually engaged with post-launch content, the way that these premium skins are being implemented has already caused quite a lot of controversy within sections of the game's community. In recent weeks, one specific in-game challenge has been directly tied to paid-for skins, and this has set a worrying precedent for the game's future.
If You Could Choose a Character From Any Franchise to Be Added Into MultiVersus, Who Would You Pick?
As much as I simply want to say more Adventure Time characters, like Marceline or BMO, I'd love to see some more iconic characters from other popular animated series, such as Mordecai and/or Rigby from Regular Show, or even some characters from the Avatar: The Last Airbender Franchise.
MultiVersus' Premium Skins Are Already Proving to Be Quite Controversial
Like a lot of live service games, MultiVersus prides itself on continually introducing fresh content for players to engage with. Away from the seasonal battle passes of the title, this content also includes limited-time events and challenges which often come with their own unique cosmetic unlocks that players can work towards.
While this is usually seen as a fun way to keep players engaged and earning tangible rewards, a recent challenge tied to MultiVersus' Summer Throwdown event has stirred up some controversy within the game's community. Aside from the title's usual daily and weekly missions, the Summer Bash mission had a unique challenge that required players to win a game while wearing a summer skin. This would not have been controversial at all at face value, with some summer skins being freely available, but the challenge specifically asked players to win while wearing the Beach Ready skin for Game of Thrones' Arya.
This skin is only available in MultiVersus via in-game purchases, meaning that players who were not willing to pay for it were completely strong-armed out of completing the challenge. Unlocking Arya as a playable character as well as gaining access to her Beach Ready skin can cost players close to $20, making it clear where the criticisms of this challenge have come from.
Microtransaction Challenges Could Be a Staple of MultiVersus' Future
Successful completion of the challenge gave players 600 XP towards the Summer Throwdown event, but it is worth noting that players who could not complete the challenge could earn this experience elsewhere. While it is understandable why so many were frustrated at the pay-wall of the Summer Bash mission, it is still possible to complete the Summer Throwdown event with a little more grinding, but some lingering controversy clearly remains.
Some players are concerned at how this kind of paywalled challenge might progress in MultiVersus' future, perhaps becoming more and more frequent and making the game's microtransactions much more predatory. MultiVersus has already faced some prior criticism over how it has handled microtransactions, and the Arya Summer Bash mission is being seen as a step too far in the eyes of some players. While the mission does not actually block progress to any rewards and gives slightly more incentive for players to purchase certain skins, it will be interesting to see how MultiVersus handles missions in the coming months following the recent controversies surrounding Arya's challenge.
MultiVersus
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 76 /100 Critics Rec: 68%
- Released
- May 28, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Fantasy Violence, Language
- Developer(s)
- Player First Games
- Publisher(s)
- Warner Bros. Games
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- PC Release Date
- May 28, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Fighting
