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Multiversus Performance/Progress Thread [LATEST UPDATE: 20m players in <1month]

Ishaan

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Expert
Localization, Historian, Reporter
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Update: 20 million players in <1 month (Aug 23, 2022)

From Variety:
Warner Bros. Games’ “MultiVersus” — the free-to-play platform fighter that brings together a bevy of characters from across the WB portfolio — has surpassed 20 million players less than a month after it launched in open beta, according to the company.
And more characters are on the way: Morty Smith (from “Rick and Morty”) will join the “MultiVersus” roster on Aug. 23, followed by others in the coming months including Rick Sanchez (also from “Rick and Morty”), DC’s Black Adam and Stripe (from “Gremlins”). New modes also will be coming to the game as part of Season 1, including “classic arcade” and “ranked” modes.



Original opening post:

For those who don't know what Multiversus is, it's a free-to-play platform fighter (like Smash Bros. and Brawlhalla) by Warner Bros.

Here's what it has going for it:
  • Multiversus is owned by Warner Bros., and features a roster of extremely popular characters
  • This includes Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Scooby Doo characters, Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny, Rick and Morty, and more
  • Outside of Smash's roster (and even rivalling/exceeding it in certain countries), this game potentially has the most popular roster of any fighter
  • The game has incredible production values, with nearly every character being lavishly animated in a way unique to them
  • It's on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series—that's a lot of platforms
  • It's entirely free-to-play

Launch day (open beta) performance:

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Earlier today, Multiversus hit a peak of 153,000 concurrent players on Steam alone. That is absolutely enormous for a fighting game. Add the fact that Multiversus isn't even available in a lot of Southeast Asian countries yet (where Cartoon Network was immensely popular), and that makes the feat all the more impressive.

Here's how that compares to other fighters, courtesy of EventHubs:

Title30-Day Average24-Hour PeakAll-time Peak
MultiVersus41,067144,132144,132
Brawlhalla12,42617,29834,169
Tekken 74,4366,42818,766
DNF Duel2,7661,26712,324
Street Fighter 52,3493,10813,807
Mortal Kombat 112,1392,58227,301
Guilty Gear Strive1,8291,92130,939
Dragon Ball FighterZ1,6331,93044,234
King of Fighters 155428138,205
Rivals of Aether4226182,828
Skullgirls 2nd Encore2242283,916
Granblue fantasy: Versus1621802,599
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax961145,628
Melty Blood: Type Lumina7210613,182
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl30469,120

* Note: EventHubs' all-time peak number for Multversus is a little outdated, which is why it's 144k instead of 153k.

THIS IS A BIG DEAL.
  • This could potentially be a historic moment for fighting games, and that is not an understatement.
  • With Smash backing out of tournaments like EVO, Multiversus could be exactly what those events need to bring in new viewers/players.
  • The game recently added LeBron James as a character. That tells you that the sky's the limit as far as future collaborations go.
  • In terms of future crossover collaborations, this has the potential to be as big as Fortnite. That is huge for a fighting game.
  • And again, this thing isn't even out in SEA territories yet, where F2P + Cartoon Network are both going to be enormous draws.
 
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Does it have character voices?

Also, if Freakazoid ever gets put into the game I'll spend a ridiculous amount of money on it.
 
Does it have character voices?

Also, if Freakazoid ever gets put into the game I'll spend a ridiculous amount of money on it.

It does. They even got Kevin Conroy, Matthew Lillard, Tara Strong, and Maisie Williams to come back for Batman, Shaggy, Harley, and Arya Stark.
 
Traditional fighting games should take note of some of the features available here, as well as the F2P model.
 
Its F2P, whereas a lot of the other games on that list are payed. F2P games should be judged on how they maintain their userbase.
 
I usually try not to be "that guy", but I honestly thought you made an error when you left out Switch from the list of platform choices available.

A Smash-like platform fighter with world famous, family-friendly cartoon mascots in a colorful simple cartoon aesthetic... is not on Nintendo's platform? (And has no plans to be on it in the future beyond murmurings of "we'll see") That's some fascinating rollout strategy.

And honestly makes it's current success even more impressive. Glad it's found it's footing especially on the PC scene where fighting game culture isn't as well established.
 
Impressive to start, but since it's F2P I do have to wonder what will happen when the next big game comes out and the streamers/casual audience move on.

F2P games can flame out particularly fast these days. Will be interesting to see the numbers 3-6 months from now. Does it still lead the pack, or does it fall to where the other fighters on the list are at?
 
I usually try not to be "that guy", but I honestly thought you made an error when you left out Switch from the list of platform choices available.

A Smash-like platform fighter with world famous, family-friendly cartoon mascots in a colorful simple cartoon aesthetic... is not on Nintendo's platform? (And has no plans to be on it in the future beyond murmurings of "we'll see") That's some fascinating rollout strategy.

And honestly makes it's current success even more impressive. Glad it's found it's footing especially on the PC scene where fighting game culture isn't as well established.

I think the Switch version, will come out together with the Mobile (iOS/Android) version when they get the crossplay and rollback right.

Also because it doesn't make sense to capitalize a f2p on the mobile market as well, like Brawlala does
 
I think the Switch version, will come out together with the Mobile (iOS/Android) version when they get the crossplay and rollback right.

Also because it doesn't make sense to capitalize a f2p on the mobile market as well, like Brawlala does
There's a mobile version being planned too?
 
The interface on consoles makes me think it was Mobile first development, but then they didn't lead with that platform.
 
Multiversus hit #1 un US NPD revenue so off to a good start!

I am still curious about the longevity of the game though. Looking at steam charts right now the game is at around 34-40k peak daily now and has been on a pretty consistent decline.

Where will it land long term? Will it manage to retain its audience or will it shrink down to where other fighting games have landed ~10k daily
 
Hmm...do you guys think the recent purchase of Warner Bros, by Discovery will affect the game in any way?
 
Multversus hits 20 million players
From Variety:

Warner Bros. Games’ “MultiVersus” — the free-to-play platform fighter that brings together a bevy of characters from across the WB portfolio — has surpassed 20 million players less than a month after it launched in open beta, according to the company.

And more characters are on the way: Morty Smith (from “Rick and Morty”) will join the “MultiVersus” roster on Aug. 23, followed by others in the coming months including Rick Sanchez (also from “Rick and Morty”), DC’s Black Adam and Stripe (from “Gremlins”). New modes also will be coming to the game as part of Season 1, including “classic arcade” and “ranked” modes.

Thanks to @Vault-Tec for bringing this to my notice in a separate thread.
 
Comparisons:
  • Warzone - 50M in 1 month
  • APEX - 50M in 1 month
  • PUBG - 30M in 1 month (non F2P)
  • Fall Guys - 25M+ in 1 month (PS+, non F2P PC)
 
Two months in, daily Steam concurrents ~7-8k
Another month! Multiversus dropped to number 5 in NPD for its second month.

The steam daily concurrent players has dropped quite a bit to around 7-8K a day.

It could still have another bounce depending on character drops, but without knowing daily spend or other metrics it looks like it doesn't have the staying power other F2P games have shown. Brawlhalla for example still pulls around 12K players a day on steam
 
Not seeing it in Steam top sellers anymore, but I'd expect it to be a more console centric game for multiple reasons.
 
Bad news: Daily Peak on Steam drops below 1000
New Article about Multiversus performance and it's not great. I do feel like this is an interesting data point though and I think overall this highlights how launch or overall "Number of Players" metrics can be misleading and not necessarily indicative of long term success.

It did rank high in NPD to begin with so it may still have made a good profit, but player retention in live service games is no easy feat even for games with explosive starts.

 
New Article about Multiversus performance and it's not great. I do feel like this is an interesting data point though and I think overall this highlights how launch or overall "Number of Players" metrics can be misleading and not necessarily indicative of long term success.

It did rank high in NPD to begin with so it may still have made a good profit, but player retention in live service games is no easy feat even for games with explosive starts.

There are two keys areas that a developer needs to get right for a GAAS game:

  • Base gameplay, which has to be fun and resonate well with the audience. A game with subpar core mechanics doesn't have any future
  • Content updates. You need to compete with Fortnite, Apex, Cod War zone and many others. Players expectations on new content have grown massively in the last few years. They want a lot of high quality new stuff in a relative short timeframe.
 
They paid off influencers hard on this one. You could tell by the coverage that most serious Smash/other fighting game people thought the game sucked in the early days but had to mention how grand it was. They all dropped it immediately after the money stopped flowing in.
 
There are two keys areas that a developer needs to get right for a GAAS game:

  • Base gameplay, which has to be fun and resonate well with the audience. A game with subpar core mechanics doesn't have any future
  • Content updates. You need to compete with Fortnite, Apex, Cod War zone and many others. Players expectations on new content have grown massively in the last few years. They want a lot of high quality new stuff in a relative short timeframe.

That last part is one of the reasons why GAAS is such a bloodbath: customers don't grade your launch on a curve, they compare it to the years-mature games they could be playing right now. The hill only gets steeper the more time passes
 
After the beta ended and the seasons started, new character output has been this:

August- 1
September- 2
October- 2
November- 1

That is pretty weak TBH, especially for a GAAS like others have said. It has been almost three full months since the last update.
 
I think you also need to take into account the initial peak was artificially high do to the enormous IP power involved. Even if they executed the perfect GaaS plan a good deal of drop off was inevitable m.
 
That last part is one of the reasons why GAAS is such a bloodbath: customers don't grade your launch on a curve, they compare it to the years-mature games they could be playing right now. The hill only gets steeper the more time passes
Indeed. I think publishers and studios often underestimate the amount of resources a GAAS game need to be competitive in the long term.
 
I always thought the appeal of "F2P Smash clone with WB/DC/HBO characters" was limited beyond the initial "wow" factor of the character crossovers and F2P model. A 99% decline (on Steam - dont know about other platforms) may have been steeper than expected but it was always destined to see a steep drop-off regardless.
 
I always thought the appeal of "F2P Smash clone with WB/DC/HBO characters" was limited beyond the initial "wow" factor of the character crossovers and F2P model. A 99% decline (on Steam - dont know about other platforms) may have been steeper than expected but it was always destined to see a steep drop-off regardless.
I'd argue that still has appeal. but some of the choices aren't exactly what I'd call "sellable". shit like Shaggy relying too much on memes isn't sellable, but cringey. but it's biggest problem is the grind and the lack of modes. the competitive scene for smash is small, same for the Melee nostalgia. but platform fighters keep leaning into those and it hurts them more than it helps
 
but it's biggest problem is the grind and the lack of modes. the competitive scene for smash is small, same for the Melee nostalgia. but platform fighters keep leaning into those and it hurts them more than it helps
I agree with this. People like smash for the casual nature of it and the large amount of content/modes not the super competitive stuff. It's similar to pokemon in that regard where the competitive aspect is there but it's not the main selling point to a lot of people and I feel like all the smash clones try way to hard to attract the competitive audience rather than the much larger casual audience
 
Crazy just how fast this game soared and then crashed & burned. It's almost like Guitar Hero/Rock Band in fast forward!

I agree with this. People like smash for the casual nature of it and the large amount of content/modes not the super competitive stuff. It's similar to pokemon in that regard where the competitive aspect is there but it's not the main selling point to a lot of people and I feel like all the smash clones try way to hard to attract the competitive audience rather than the much larger casual audience

The problem with making it more casual is that you're then competing more directly against Smash. While I agree that the casual audience is way, WAY larger than the competitive one; appealing to the competitive audience is also one of the most significant ways that you can differentiate your Smash clone from Smash.

The real problem is that these games are ultimately too similar to their source material. Nobody wants to play discount Smash when they already have Smash. If you want to really appeal to this segment of the gaming audience, you should be making something that plays significantly different from Smash, but shares some of that same appeal (both casual & competitive party multiplayer)... like what Lethal League/LL Blaze and Killer Queen/KQ Black did. THAT's the kind of game that the audience really wants!
 
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competing with smash isn't a bad thing as long as you offer up something different. clones do well and can carve out names for themselves
 
Beta going offline; full launch in early 2024
Multiversus beta will be delisted on Apr 4, online play will be gone on Jun 25, full game will launch in early 2024.
 
After the beta ended and the seasons started, new character output has been this:

August- 1
September- 2
October- 2
November- 1

That is pretty weak TBH, especially for a GAAS like others have said. It has been almost three full months since the last update.
Jokes on you they never exited beta

:V

No reason to believe the 2024 relaunch will fix most of this games issues.
 
Beta eh? That’s some interesting spin there!

Of course it’s all horseshit. They’re shutting the game down and relaunching it later as a Hail Mary move to revive flagging interest. That’s what’s really going on here. The current game is not a beta, and this was never part of the original plan.

Of course, by doing this they’ve also just proved that they can’t be trusted to make good on any of your purchases with this F2P scam of a game either, so…
 
Beta eh? That’s some interesting spin there!

Of course it’s all horseshit. They’re shutting the game down and relaunching it later as a Hail Mary move to revive flagging interest. That’s what’s really going on here. The current game is not a beta, and this was never part of the original plan.

Of course, by doing this they’ve also just proved that they can’t be trusted to make good on any of your purchases with this F2P scam of a game either, so…
To be fair, the game was always marked as a beta so it isn't a random ass-pull, but overall I agree this is just a desperate last ditch effort to try and save it that, let's be real, won't help at all.
 
It's not unusual for a beta to go offline in prep for the actual game launch. What is unusual is that they charged money for the beta and are taking it offline 6+ months before the full game.
 
What an unfortunate turn of events. That said, I still believe the game has lots of potential and having another 9-10 months of development time will allow them to act upon all the feedback they've received so far. And there is a ton of it, so the path forward is pretty clear.
 
What an unfortunate turn of events. That said, I still believe the game has lots of potential and having another 9-10 months of development time will allow them to act upon all the feedback they've received so far. And there is a ton of it, so the path forward is pretty clear.
It's almost fitting that this announcement happened right as the competitive Smash scene is facing a reckoning with tournament broadcasters going under and sponsorship money drying up (no, for the last time, Metafy is not going to turn a profit ever so quit hoping that they keep throwing money at Smash).
 
Didn't FF14 do something similar? Launched in such a buggy state that they had to take the game down and relaunched it months later?
 
Jokes on you they never exited beta

:V

No reason to believe the 2024 relaunch will fix most of this games issues.
LOL

My two cents is that WB still believes in the product and are going to give it one more push early next year. They may still have a hit on their hands, but they really need to get the launch right.
 
Didn't FF14 do something similar? Launched in such a buggy state that they had to take the game down and relaunched it months later?
I'd say less "relaunch it" and more "nuked it from high heaven and started from scratch"

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