Multiversus (opens in new tab) went offline in June and won't return until sometime in early 2024: Warner Bros. Games says the game was never actually released, only in open beta.

This Smash Brothers-style fighting game features characters from the DC Universe, such as Batman and Wonder Woman, as well as Cartoon Network shows like Adventure Time and Steven Universe, Scooby-Doo, Looney Tunes, and characters from other Warner Bros. properties. Now, according to the game's creator, Player First Games, the open beta will end in June, and developers are preparing for a full release next year

. [Multiversus will be playable starting in July 2022, and in the meantime, it has more than 93,000 user reviews on Steam (opens in new tab), with an overall rating of "very positive." (It is also available on the Epic Store (open in new tab)). We also liked it quite a bit ourselves, with 78% of reviews (opens in new tab) calling it "a great foundation for a great platform fighter with the potential to grow into something great." Since then, the game has seen a lot of progress, including not just one but two seasons with season passes available for purchase (opens in new tab), a high-profile crossover (opens in new tab), and a $100,000 pro tournament on Evo (opens in new tab).

It's also fair to say that Warner has not publicly disclosed the "open beta" angle. A search of Twitter, for example, shows that the last mention of open beta was a tweet in August 2022 (opens in new tab), stating that "the start of open beta is just the beginning."

But now all that is about to go away. Game director Tony Huynh said that the open beta was an "important learning opportunity" for developer Player First Games, and that as a result they will be shutting down all plug-ins for over a year.

"We have a clearer picture of what we need to focus on, especially the flow of content such as new characters, maps, and modes, along with netcode updates and matchmaking improvements to provide more ways to enjoy the game," Huynh said. Huynh added, "We will also be restructuring our progression system based on your feedback and looking at new ways to connect with your friends in-game.

"To do this the right way, we are closing the MultiVersus open beta on June 25, 2023. As part of this process, we will pause updates and take the game offline in preparation for the launch of MultiVersus, which is targeted for early 2024."

MultiVersus players will continue to have access to training, local matches, acquired and purchased characters and cosmetic items. However, all online modes and features (the reason people actually play the game) will no longer be accessible. Also, there will be no refunds (open in new tab) upon the beta's conclusion, but Warner assures that all content purchased by players will carry over to the full release.

The reaction to this news on social media and Reddit (opens in new tab) has been surprisingly upbeat (at least to me), as two seasons have ended and a fully monetized game suddenly disappears under the guise of "not actually being released." There is understandably some frustration, and quite a few people have said they thought the beta ended months ago.

However, there is also support that this move is in the best interest of the game.

One Redditor with a good memory published an old tweet (open in new tab) in which Huynh stated that the open beta release "will hopefully last forever unless they find some really bad bugs." This naturally led to a discussion about what qualifies as a "bug" as opposed to the need to rework the system to try to increase the audience.

"A "pretty big bug" in this case means we need to go back to the drawing board and rework the game a bit," redditor _Valisk (opens in new tab) wrote. 'It's not a bug in the traditional sense, but it's something that is affecting the game and needs to be addressed.' It's a big blowback, of course, but I think it's the right call."

The need to "go back to the drawing board" is definitely a reality. Within months of its strong start, the number of players for Multiversus began to decline dramatically: according to Steam Charts (opens in new tab), the average number of simultaneous players in July 2022 was an astounding 67,000, but by September it had plummeted to 8,664! In September, the number dropped to 8,664. Over the past 30 days (i.e., basically March 2023), the average number of simultaneous players was only 537, with a peak of 1,081. This is not enough to sustain a competitive multiplayer game that relies on major brand crossover.

This shutdown illustrates the pointlessness of terms like "beta" and "early access." Thanks to these terms, the game can act like a full release, including taking money. The length of the shutdown is also alarming. Games in open beta, especially "open" games like "Multiversus," are generally considered close to release. The fact that Warner wants more than a year (maybe more if the vague "early 2024" launch goal is not maintained) suggests that a broader overhaul is underway.

I am not suggesting any impropriety here, and I would not dispute that Multiversus was not an open beta, at least as long as no one at Warner has ever explicitly stated that it left beta and entered full release, as far as I know. However, Warner seems to be at least a little premature with the "unreleased game" concept, and technical problems or not, there is no doubt that this would not have happened if Multiversus had been able to maintain a reasonable number of players. Now it remains to be seen if Multiversus can really bounce back from this.