The player count for free-to-play Super Smash Bros.-style fighting game MultiVersus has dropped dramatically, at least on Steam. MultiVersus launched earlier this year to a generally positive reception, with many praising it as one of the first truly great Super Smash Bros. Clones on the market. MultiVersus's diverse roster of fighters helped the game generate significant buzz, and while there's still plenty of new content on the way, it remains to be seen if it will be enough to bring lapsed players back into the fold.
The MultiVersus player count started off strong at launch hitting a peak concurrent player count of 153,044 while still in its open beta phase. It's to be expected for any game's concurrent peak players to drop after launch as fans move on to other games, but the MultiVersus player count drop is still dramatic enough that it warrants discussion.
In July 2022, the MultiVersus peak players on Steam was 153,044, while August saw that drop to 139,095. According to Steam Charts, there was then an astonishing 79.15% drop in peak players, with the game only hitting 22,037 in September. For the last 30 days, the peak number of concurrent players in MultiVersus was 16,867, a 34.13% drop. This seems to be a clear indicator that the new characters are not the draw for MultiVersus that many expected them to be.
Developer Player First Games has made sure that there has been a steady stream of new content coming to MultiVersus, mainly in the form of new playable characters. In August, MultiVersus added Morty from Rick and Morty to the mix, while September saw the addition of Gizmo and Rick Sanchez. Stripe from Gremlins is expected to join the roster next, while Black Adam of DC Comics fame will be added before Season 1's conclusion on November 15.
While MultiVersus reviews were mostly positive and fighting game fans have been enthusiastic about the game, it may still not be surprising to fans to see the player count drop so significantly. As for why the MultiVersus player count has dropped so much, there could be multiple explanations. New game releases have likely drawn players away, plus there are those who may be waiting for the delayed Arcade and Ranked game modes before they jump back into the game. Others may be unhappy with certain changes made to the game, like how MultiVersus nerfed XP and progression to make it take longer to level characters up.
The MultiVersus player count may seem bleak, but it's not like the game is a lost cause. Future MultiVersus updates could go a long way in bringing back lapsed players as well as drawing in newcomers. Not only that, but this player count is only indicative of how many people are playing the game on Steam. There is no data for the console versions available at this time, but it's entirely possible that the game is being played more on Xbox and PlayStation than PC. In any case, it will be interesting to see if MultiVersus is able to rally back and improve its numbers in the months ahead.
MultiVersus is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Steam Charts