MultiVersus: Everything We Know (2023)

So, you’ve just about finished shoving the likes of Shaggy Rogers into a ring with Harley Quinn for the umpteenth time in Warner Bros’ MultiVersus — so now what? Well, turns out, there are plenty more tricks left up the developer’s sleeve for the award-winning multiverse. However, if you had high hopes of seeing anything majorly significant hit the front page before year’s end, then you may want to claim sanctuary in the likes of King of Fighters for a short while. Fact is, the free-to-play brawler won’t be shedding its offline exclusivity for at least another six or seven months from the time of writing. Q1 2024, then, if all goes according to plan.

So, if there’s nothing left to gawp at in 2023, then what can we expect to see in 2024 and beyond? Are we likely to see more characters grace the roster ahead of its planned release, or will the finalised product be no different from its Beta version that only shut down a few weeks back? Well, here’s everything we know about the future of MultiVersus, including its launch window and initial roster. Let’s get down to brass tacks, budding brawlers.

What Is MultiVersus?

Just to clarify, MultiVersus is a crossover fighting game — a brawler, of sorts, designed and supported by the full weight of the Warner Bros. know-it-alls. And yes, that does mean Bugs Bunny is involved, as are the likes of Wonder Woman, Arya Stark, and Jake the Dog. Quite the dynamic group by any measure, and yet one that also went on to score an award back at The Game Awards 2022 for being sewn into the Best Fighting Game of the year. And that was before it had even kicked off its training wheels, too. So, if you thought that was impressive, then wait till you get a load of what’s to come in 2024.

In case you missed it, MultiVersus initially made an appearance back in 2022 in a closed Alpha state. It was short-lived, but eventually succeeded by an open Beta which went on to span just shy of ten months across all major platforms. And now, well, let’s just say those who missed out on the chance to play it first-hand will have to wait until early 2024 to see what all the buzz was all about. That is, of course, providing it makes the deadline laid out by Warner Bros. back in 2022, at least.

Story

While it is standard practice for us to go into depth about the storyline in these situations, MultiVersus isn’t going to make it all that easy to talk about. Why? Well, to put it straight — there is very little to explore as far as plot points travel. But that doesn’t come as much of a surprise, either, what with it being a fighting game and all. Did Nickelodeon Brawlers feature an extensive storytelling sequence at any point? Not that I can recall, no. And neither does MultiVersus, as it goes.

Having said all that, there is a basic outline — a rather vague premise, of sorts, that revolves around a catastrophic event known as The Great Dimensional Cataclysm. Somehow, and we’ve yet to understand why, this resulted in Gizmo going toe-to-toe with LeBron James. And that brings us to the biggest question of all: will there be a story mode? And the general consensus there is no, no it won’t. But then, with each character having a backstory of some sort, chances are there’ll be a much bigger picture to tap into come launch day? We wouldn’t sweep it under the rug just yet, either way.

Gameplay

Like Super Smash Bros. (or Nickelodeon Brawlers, for that matter), the gameplay mostly revolves around adrenaline-fuelled 1v1 or team-based battles. These fights, which are often placed within shifting arenas, bare a simple objective: whittle down the enemy health bar by any means necessary. That’s quite a simple request when you think about it. But then, it often boils down to the characters on your team and the abilities they bring to the table.

While on the subject of characters, MultiVersus has a total of 23 in its starting lineup. According to the perks list in the Founder’s Pack, though, those who made the purchase will be in receipt of 30 character tokens. So, chances are there’ll be a few more friendly faces joining the roster in time for the full release. The characters who we know will be joining the fight are as follows…

• Arya Stark (Game of Thrones)
• Batman (DC)
• Black Adam (DC)
• Bugs Bunny (Looney Tunes)
• Finn (Adventure Time)
• Garnet (Steven Universe)
• Gizmo (Gremlins)
• Harley Quinn (DC)
• Iron Giant (The Iron Giant)
• Jake (Adventure Time)
• LeBron James (Space Jam)
• Marvin the Martian (Looney Tunes)
• Morty (Rick & Morty)
• Reindog (Original)
• Rick (Rick & Morty)
• Shaggy (Scooby-Doo)
• Steven Universe (Steven Universe)
• Stripe (Gremlins)
• Superman (DC)
• Taz (Looney Tunes)
• Tom & Jerry (Tom & Jerry)
• Velma (Scooby-Doo)
• Wonder Woman (DC)

In addition to the core members, insiders are also claiming that there’ll be seven more introduced in time for the launch date. And if what they’re saying turns out to be true, then we’ll also be getting Joker, Raven, Scooby-Doo, Godzilla, The Wicked Witch, The Hound, and Daenerys. A further data mine also turfed up the audio files for Johnny Bravo, Samurai Jack, Ben 10, The Powerpuff Girls, and Fred Flinstone. So, quite the beefed-up roster in the works, after all.

Development

As a reminder, MultiVersus is being developed by Player First Games, as well as Warner Bros. Games. First teased back in 2021, the brawler-based title went on to score Best Fighting Game at The Game Awards 2022. Since then, fans were able to enjoy an open Beta test, which lasted just shy of eleven months before closing up shop back in April 2023. If all goes to plan, then MultiVersus will be back up and running and complete with all its online functionalities in the first quarter of 2024.

Trailer

It comes as no major surprise to see a few trailers already posted up on the board. But if you’ve yet to see anything at all on the matter, then be sure to check out the initial announcement trailer above.

Release Date, Platforms & Editions

MutiVersus will be coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam at some stage in “early 2024.” Sad news for Nintendo fans, though, as Warner Bros. has yet to actually announce a Switch port of the game. Does that mean the chances of it heading to the handheld console are next to non-existent? Not at all, though at present it appears the devs are pouring all of their efforts into the console and PC versions.

Has it caught your eye — the chaos of it all? If so, then be sure check in with the team over on its social handle for all the freshest updates here. In the meantime, we’ll be keeping an eye on that potential launch window just in case anything pops up. Should there be anything even the slightest bit newsworthy, we’ll be sure to fill you in on all the details right here on gaming.net.

So, what’s your take? Will you be jumping on the brawler bandwagon for when the time of MultiVersus’ eventual release rolls out? Let us know your thoughts over on our socials here.