Over the years, many crossover fighting games have risen and fallen due to poor sales and the passage of time. One was MultiVersus, a crossover between Warner Brothers’ iconic franchises. After several years of rocky history, the game entered its fifth and final season. Recently, the developers announced that the game would receive its final update after barely a year online in its current form. As sad as this news is to many, it is only the latest chapter in a history of blunders from live-service games and Warner Bros. Here is a breakdown of MultiVersus’s swan song.

MultiVersus Season 5 to Be Last

According to Kotaku, Warner Bros. announced that Season 5 would be the last season of their platform fighting game MultiVersus. The developers confirmed it would be the final content update for the game and that players would need to download it to continue playing offline after its shutdown. Otherwise, all online functions will be suspended for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, they canceled all microtransactions, and there will be no refunds.

This fifth season will run from February 4 to May 30 and introduce the last two heroes, Lola Bunny and Aquaman. Despite being months from cancellation, Aquaman must be acquired using the battle pass, while players earn Lola through daily rewards. Unlike the first time the game shut down, it will be permanent this time.

A Standard Smash-Like

MultiVersus is a 2D platform fighting game from Player First Games and Warner Bros. The game was created as a crossover between the media giant’s iconic franchises. Examples include Looney Tunes, DC Comics, Game of Thrones, and many others from classic films like The Matrix and Beetlejuice. Given the scale of many of these fanbases, the game had strong starting potential.

As one can quickly tell, the game was built as an homage to Nintendo’s popular crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros., which similarly featured iconic heroes from across gaming trying to blast each other out of the arena. They would not be the first to do so, as Nickelodeon created All-Star Brawl. However, the latter fared far better, as it even earned a sequel.

Ever since MultiVersus launched, it has faced several hurdles amid middling performance. After releasing in 2022, the game was met with poor sales and criticism for its balancing and stagnant meta. The game was closed in the middle of 2023 and relaunched the next year. However, it never saw the same popularity it did at launch, leading to its inevitable downfall.

Warner Bros.’ Management

Besides MultiVersus, several other games from the media giant have recently fallen flat. Last year, Warner Bros. released Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which met with universally terrible reviews and sales, leading to massive layoffs for its developer. Furthermore, the company has faced many recent controversies, largely blamed on its infamous CEO, David Zaslav. Examples include Coyote Vs. Acme’s cancelation for a tax write-off and the streaming service MAX’s catalog vanishing.

Additionally, there have been many other recent stories of live-service games being shut down after relatively short periods. Examples include Concord’s infamous downfall and Ubisoft canceling XDefiant after barely a year. This could be part of a larger trend of live-service games losing favor among gamers. Conversely, other crossover games like Marvel Rivals have thrived recently.

Conclusion

For as short as its run was, MultiVersus left a decent impact. It was an interesting homage to Smash Bros featuring another set of iconic heroes battling. However, it still failed because of its poor design and management. With this fifth and final season, players can hopefully get a few more good experiences. Like many other major developers recently, Warner Bros. has faced issues with the treatment of its iconic franchises. Hopefully, creators will gain more control over their games and films as time passes.