The MultiVersus story has been a rollercoaster since its initial open beta launch on July 26, 2022, and it surprisingly shut down on June 25, 2023, to prepare for the official launch of the game. It was a bizarre decision at the time, causing many users to think something shady was happening behind closed doors. The game did manage to keep its promise by launching as a free-to-play platform fighter on May 28, 2024, after a long wait. Shortly afterwards, Warner Bros. Games acquired the team behind MultiVersus, Player First Games, giving a bit of hope that it would survive.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. Today, MultiVersus confirmed Season 5, which runs from February 4 through May 30, will be its final. The season will introduce DC’s Aquaman and Looney Tunes’ Lola Bunny, which are earnable through gameplay, with Aquaman available through the Battle Pass as the first tier reward and Lola as the daily calendar login reward. When the season ends on May 30 at 9:00am Pacific (12:00pm Eastern), all online features will end. From that point forward, MultiVersus will only be available offline via the local gameplay mode, so either solo or against A.I. opponents or with up to three friends.
Those who are interested will need to install and download the latest version of the game and log in during Season 5, at which point a local save file will be created and linked to the user’s PlayStation Network, Microsoft Store, Steam, or Epic Games Store account. Any earned and purchased content will be available with the offline version.
Starting today, the game is disabling all real money transactions, meaning players can’t acquire Gleamium, but they can still use any remaining currency or character tokens until May 30. The team also made it clear that once Season 5 finishes, no one will be able to download MultiVersus on any of the platforms.
This is unfortunate news, as it clearly indicates more layoffs and even a potential studio closure for the gaming industry. However, it does seem that unexpectedly shutting down the game during its open beta wasn’t the best decision, as the game never quite recovered. MultiVersus won Best Fighting Game at The Game Awards 2022 and was also named Fighting Game of the Year at the 2023 D.I.C.E. Awards. It’s a reminder how quickly everything can change in the gaming industry.
