Over the past few weeks there have been leaks and teases for a Warner Bros platform fighter, a genre very much defined by Super Smash Bros., of course. It's now been officially revealed as MultiVersus, above, with the previous leaks being pretty much bang on the money.
The big surprise, from our perspective, is the platform list. It's coming to Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC in 2022. Yes, the big missing platform is Stadia Switch. We're not sure why, frankly, there's nothing in that trailer that highlights it as a game that can't run on Nintendo's system, and it is coming to Microsoft and Sony's last-gen systems. It seems like a game well suited to the Switch audience too, but at this time it's skipping the hybrid platform.
As you can also see in the trailer it will be free-to-play, making us think a little of Ubisoft's Brawlhalla but with major Warner Bros IPs. As you can see it's likely targeting a young / cartoon audience, with a big focus on animation characters or iterations. The developer is newcomer Player First Games - it's their first release but the studio cites the presence of multiple industry veterans.
So there you have it, the Warner Bros take on the platform fighting genre. Let us know what you think about the reveal, and of course the fact that it's seemingly not coming to Switch.
Comments 137
Game more targeted toward a younger audience — not going to the system more targeted toward younger audience. That says a lot about the industry and the lack of common-sense therein.
Oh how ever will switch owners cope
Aw that stinks, probably wouldn't have been great anyways
Edit: Heh, finished watching the trailer... gotta say nvm this might be good, the strategy team aspect is cool and ultra-instict Shaggy am I right
<Free to play
Nnnnnope.
Thats kind of a dumb decision. Skip the platform that will probaby be where most your customers are. Maybe it will come later, and they're making sure the Switch gets a quality port.
Also being free to play is kind of sus.
Likely due to the game utilising rollback. Apparently the switch seems to be unable to handle it; Smash, nickelodeon and now this all couldn't make it work.
As for the game itself? No too bad, you can definitely see that there is a good heap of money behind this. Animaitons looks great, game seems to have a coherent artstyle and general aesthetics look pretty good. The cartoony look works well as a middle ground between actual cartoon characters and the adapted more realistic characters.
Hopefully it doesn't turn out awful. I'll probably try this with my younger brother who is a comic books nut, and team based at its core means it should be more fun for the both of us too.
Is this gonna be the new "hotness" in gaming?
After the Battle Royale clones comes the Smash Bros clones? Oh no.
It looks horrifying in the best way possible. Bizarre it’s skipping Switch but could be because Switch’s online architecture is basically pants.
Yeah, this is impossible to beat
I'm betting it's only skipping the playtest phase, but will end up on switch
@Matl
It seems as though that the Switch's online capabilities simply lack the bandwidth or speeds needed to achieve rollback netcode, even when you have an ethernet connection you can't get the best possible speeds out of your internet set-up.
The game looks neat though and will probably have more potential than Nickelodean All-Star Brawl, and props for actually giving the characters voices, and from their renowned voice actors too.
I think this whole gerne is a bit like the Mario Kart situation where, no matter how good your game is, you will never be as good as the current (non f2p mobil) Mario Kart game.
But my real first thought on this was:
WHERE GANDALF?
Wow, looks awful, and Free of Play? Yeah micro-transactions abound, probably will only be able to play two matches then have to pay to play more. And only get two games a day.
No thanks
Well, at least it looks better then that Nickelodeon game. And it even has voices!
Finally we can answer the age old question of who would win in a fight between the immortal Superman and the stoner Shaggy from Scooby Doo.
Who asked for this?
@noobish_hat I had the same thought. Maybe because it's a Smash clone???? Only Nintendolife knows the answer.
I don't care it's not coming to Switch.
It's free to play. And I hate that business model in games.
Warner Bros isn't exactly known for their games running properly even on higher end hardware. So I'm not losing sleep over what would have been a terrible no effort port for a game that probably will run terribly even on a PS5.
It all looks weirdly slow and floaty? But there was also some bit of footage definitely slowed down so I couldn't tell if it was just that?
The team focus moves like shielding yourself and your teammate or being able to grapple them back from certain death is pretty cool though!
I kinda wish they just made brand new characters for this though. The very thing they seem to be selling as their big selling point, all the WB owned characters, is the very thing putting me off. I don't want Gandalf and Aria fighting Jake and Bugs. But for those who do, I hope it pans out well!
@noobish_hat They previously posted an article when this same game was rumoured with no confirmed platforms. For anyone interested in where that was going, they are confirming it's skipping Switch. Read the article next time.
freemium means I won't touch it.
Perhaps they thought competing with Smash is useless so why bother?
Finally we will see Shaggy at his 20%!!!
They knew that Nintendo gamers won't play it. It's just like no one plays Immortal Fenyx Rising on Switch because BotW exists.
@CharlieGirl implying Smash-inspired 2D platformer fighters aren't at least over a decade old. Jump Ultimate Stars and Guilty Gear Dust Strikers were many people's first "portable Smash Bros" experiences long before Nintendo provided one.
@NoTinderLife hi, I'm no one. 😄 And if not for a certain combination of personal budget forecasts back in the summer of 2017, I'd be playing Immortals instead of BotW rather than alongside it nowadays, simply because that technically makes more sense (Immortals is an original IP versus BotW being the latest in a longrunner franchise I'm still early in the second game of). It's also a fun game with a lot of elements you won't find in BotW, and calling it a "clone" of the latter is pretty hilarious after all the Ubisoftesque map-revealing towers I've scaled and activated during Link's adventures. Or the numerous hidden collectibles and hundreds of challenge spots to uncover and beat, and gliding around in the air like Rico Rodriguez... by this fan logic, what "cloned" what, exactly?😅
I'm still not crazy about how unhinged the crossover potential will be, but I gotta admit, it actually looks pretty clean. The animations and effects seem to read really well (compared to Nick All-Stars).
My only hangup is that it's hard to get a feel for how fast the gameplay is. So much footage in this announcement video seems to be slowed down.
This looks absolutely terrible. Nick Brawl beat out Ultimate in every way for me, this can do better with a much higher budget.
Hey it has voices so it can't be worse than the last one, whatever it was called.
Thanks to Warner Bros for not subjecting Switch owners to this piece of crap.
@Matl
IIRC, other fighting games on Switch like Mortal Kombat 11, Samurai Showdown, and even Nintendo's own Arms all use rollback netcode. All three of those games look more hardware-intensive than this game.
Anyways, not coming to Switch is a mistake given the Smash Bros audience, but it being F2P (unlike Nickelodeon All-Stars) means a Switch port isn't totally necessary for it to find a big audience.
Will give this a try on one of the other platforms.
Looks awfully unoriginal to the point of me not really having much to say about it. I'm not even bothered it's skipping Switch lol.
@dkxcalibur we all know they posted this for clicks. I'm as big a sucker as anyone for doing so. Lol
@noobish_hat yeah, I feel like this is partly because NL misses the days when they could post articles about games not coming to a Nintendo system. That got them a lot of traffic during the Wii U era.
We got smash bros and we clearly know smash is better than this game
Aw man. It looks pretty good.
And if it’s anything like brawlhalla
(Very F2P friendly and having a little pass that unlocks all characters and microtransactions are limited to customization) it could probably be really fun. (Also the super Saiyan shaggy memes are now coming true)
I'd bet money that a port is coming later on. That's usually how things go nowadays.
"Skipping Switch."
That's not going to last long.
@MrSad Well that's how it's supposed to be but I think modern fighting games have forgotten that
It's just way too slow. And then they slow down the footage to make it look even worse. Rewatched it at 1.5x speed and it's still less hectic than something like Smash.
One thing that disappoints me about all these Smash Bros "clones" is that they all try to be Melee 2.0, but what makes Smash Bros as successful as it is (beyond the massive roster) is there sheer amount of content that appeals to hardcore and casual fans alike. The quantity and variety of stages, items, game modes, features, and options available in Smash Bros is unmatched, even if some elements (i.e. online play) could use some work.
The vast majority of people don't buy Smash Bros just to play 1v1 no-items 3-stock Final Destination over-and-over again.
Smash Ultimate's 25+ million sales has not gone unnoticed in the video game industry, as well as the literally unprecedented level of crossover IP crammed into a single video game.
I really like the co-op approach. More than any other platform fighter, I think the focus on teamwork will separate this from Smash. Being F2P is a serious boon in that regard, I don't have to convince a friend to buy the game.
"Free to play" tempers any feeling of loss. LOL. Also the fact it is likely to be a shallow experience
It’s likely they wanted to put online as its focus first, which the switch is a portable device for about half of the user base and offline. Switch support may always come later, as usual for many third party games. Putting Xbox and PlayStation as the first platforms makes me think they are targeting an older audience than the switch, despite the cartoony art style and characters.
@westman98
I feel like you didn't even watch the trailer to call this a Melee clone. This is less like Melee than Ultimate is.
"Multi Verses priority is to have best in class online play".
That, my friends, is why its skipping Switch.
For the people who say this is a Smash Bros. copy, games similar to Smash Bros. already became a genre, when a new FPS game is released, no one says the game is a "Doom clone" anymore.
You can't own a genre, imagine if id Software, the studio that made Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, decided to sue every single company that made a FPS game, imagine if they patented the idea? We wouldn't have Duke Nukem 3D, GoldenEye 007, Half-Life, Unreal, Far Cry, Bioshock, Halo, Battlefield...
I want to enjoy this, but watching the trailer makes me feel like it will quickly fizzle out… that’s disappointing. Been burned by short lived online games previously and not sure I wanna invest the time into it.
@victordamazio a crossover fighting game. If it was another first person shooter where you shoot demons then yes people would call it a doom clone. Someone could very easily make a game like smash bros that doesn't feature crossover characters. Then it wouldn't be a clone
@ThomasBW84 "We're not sure why, frankly,"
Maybe they're saving it to be a Switch Pro launch title? 😉
@BLD
I didn't say it was a Melee clone.
When I say "Melee 2.0", I'm referring to the focus on competitive play over everything else, not that these Smash "clones" are a literal copy of Super Smash Bros Melee with non-Nintendo characters pasted in.
@Scapetti These kinds of games are supposed to have crossover characters, just like Mario Kart clones often does to franchises and companies.
Plus, most Smash Bros. clones that tried original characters didn't do so well.
@MathGeekDave love the ska guy picture
I think this will either come to Switch eventually, or the sequel will come to Nintendo's next console, which will hopefully have better online.
Either way, it's cool to see the platform fighter subgenre growing. I like seeing more and more companies taking an interest in crossover games in general.
I wonder how long it will take before Disney throws their hat in the ring.
Matchups like Mickey Mouse vs. Homer Simpson vs. Spider-Man vs. Darth Vader would be very entertaining.
It will show up at some point. still can't wait to play it with my friends.
This already looks better than that garbage Nick All-Stars. I'm in.
Oh wait I just watched the trailer, its teamed based? Oh hell ya! UI shaggy?....My dream has come true, VA? YAAAA!
@InvisiBulbasaur It could be nintendo was a little harder to get cross play with.
@Bunkerneath it doesnt look awful xD
Well, I'll try it in my PS5 I guess 🤷♂️
I will be genuinely mad if this gets ported to Switch later on. This doesn’t even look hardware extensive at all or graphically demanding. Should have been day 1 with other platforms but it is what it is and as @westman98 said, Mortal Kombat 11 has rollback net code and yet somehow that game is on Switch
Anyone notice how slow the gameplay was during the video? It could be how they edited the video, but I thought it looked worse than all the all others so far.
im usually 🙄 at "that guy," but this time i guess I am that guy:
so its nintendo news now when a game does NOT come out on a nintendo platform? 🙄
I guess I was under the impression this was still just a concept and not something this far along. Sucks and a bit baffling that it's not coming to the Switch immediately
@Matl I don't know why people keep saying the Switch can't handle rollback. Rocket League, Brawlhalla, Skullgirls, and Nickelodeon All-Stars are just a few games on the Switch that use rollback. Though in All-Star case, it's only in 1v1 and not 4v4 which is the same as the last gen Xbox and PlayStation consoles.
If I had to guess I'd say it's because when developers make multi port console games they need to make a "new" version for the Switch since it is a lot easier to port games to other consoles as opposed to the Switch. Give it time, it'll come to the Switch within 6 months to a year.
@NoTinderLife That's funny, considering Immortals Fenyx Rising sold the best on the Switch in the UK.
I'll give it a go on PS5. I mean it looks 100x better than Nickelodeon Brawl
"competitive"
...
So it'll be boring then. Looks like it'll be just like Nick's All-Stars, but at least the visuals and audio seem a little bit better.
But yeah, I'll stick with Smash.
So it's gonna be like Brawlhalla where there would slowly get rights to license characters to be added to the game? A nice concept but I rather they follow what Smash did and just make seasonal fighter passes to the base lineup.
I'm not sweating it. We'll get it on Switch like a year after its release, announced in a Fall 2023 Direct or something, and by then the character and stage roster will be serviceable.
@BTB20 @nhSnork 3rd party multi-platform games are best played on other consoles, Fenyx runs at 60fps on PS4 and Xbox1. BotW is exclusive to Switch and is far more superior than Fenyx. BotW is like an iPhone and Fenyx is an iPhone-clone, then again - you have people who likes iPhone-clone even though the iPhone is better.
Should've named it Super Warner Bros.
@Joeynator3000 Idk, I hate the dread feeling of 1v1's, now sharing a lost with someone else, I'm 100% going to play this online, because I just love teamwork based games!
So what i'm trying to say, is that it might feel less competitive?
@YusseiWarrior3000 I think its one, netcode, or two, The crossplay, They might still be waiting on Nintendo for that, but no, they would say its coming to the switch no?
Whatever the case they would be stupid to skip the switch, I mean its a FTP game?!
@Snatcher I dunno, I just see the same thing, basic stages with barely anything going on, no mention of items...no other modes...
There seems to be some decent ideas in here, but it’s definitely sketchy as to what it will really wind up being as far as what’s free and what’s fee.
But, unrelated to the game, watching this preview I can’t help but wish we could be done with the goofy style of cutting to side views of the “host” while they still look toward a front camera. Everyone does it now and I’m sure it’s considered stylish but it’s always just odd and distracting.
I'm not familiar with modern Scooby Doo but Shaggy has superpowers now?
Overall I'm not sold yet. Looks not really bad but meh and not a fan of F2P.
Hope they include more classic characters, Red hot riding hood would be amazing.
Plot twist: This game is a marketing ploy for the upcoming Adult Swim series, Pibby.
If you haven't heard of it, it'll be about some characters from a preschool show fight against zombified characters from Warner Bros., Cartoon Network, Hanna Barbera and I believe DC as well.
@Joeynator3000 Thats true, But could be fun with a friend no?
@Tobiaku Its a meme, That WB made cannon. so yes, he has superpowers now LOL.
It's funny seeing people claim this looks terrible (seems like a cope mostly due to lack of switch) and that somehow Nick All Stars Brawl is better. This game looks superior to the Nickelodeon game and will undoubtedly do better than it too. It's also going to have a bigger community and online functionality due to its higher budget.
Free to Play doesn't equal poor quality game either lol. Do Nintendo gamers never stray from their system and never play actual good FTP games like Team Fortress 2 or Dota? I wouldn't knock this game until it releases. We dont even know what the "paid" aspect of the game will even be yet. It could just be skins and nothing more. How about waiting until we know more until letting your saltiness out?
@Snatcher lol, and who will play this with me? xD
@Joeynator3000 I would ): but idk, I guess it for me it doesn't feel has sweaty Because of the 2v2's. But I understand if you don't feel that way, But still try out the game tho? Its free.
Also, did you guys look at the website? UI shaggy has an origin story now!
Looks fun, plus you can't beat the price. Hopefully ot won't be a pay-to-in thing.
@Snatcher Eh, I got other games to play...I just know that this game I'd just play for 5 minutes and then be like "alright, done with game forever"....the free to play thing makes it even worse.
@Joeynator3000 Well the one thing I worry about, about the free to play is the characters, will they have us pay for the characters? or just the suits? (Fat chance) If its just the suits...I mean well? Now if they give us a good way to unlock them in a fun way, without paying, kinda like apex does it, I will be happy.
@YusseiWarrior3000 I do hope your right, I would love to play this on the go!
also I signed up for the playtest, are you?
@YusseiWarrior3000 The playstest has yet to start, they actually haven't said yet.
@Pillowpants you just can’t play Smash online which keeps me from enjoying Smash
@Tobiaku ultra instinct shaggy is a popular meme, pure awesome fan service
@YusseiWarrior3000 Can do. If I get invited.
I really hope this does come to the switch later on. I'm a Batman freak and would love to play a smash like game as Batman.
I'll stick with Smash and Nickelodeon
They already lost me at free-to-play, but it looks like a very bland Smash bros clone anyway. There was a rather good attempt at a Smash-clone by Ubisoft from the Wii era though, with a Turtles-theme. That one I quite enjoyed, but it both looked and played differenty from smash while keeping the platform-ish 4-player battles.
@Imerion Its not fair that every Platform fighter gets called a smash clone, I don't remember Smash having team based moves.
@mike_intv The Switch is targeted at older audiences, the system's demographics are in the 20-30 age range.
@Matl All NES, SNES and Genesis games on the Nintendo Switch Online use rollback.
@RupeeClock Are you sure you know what rollback netcode means?
Nintendo themselves use rollback netcode on the NES, SNES and Genesis games of their online service, plus several third party Switch games like MK11, Skullgirls and Melty Blood also use rollback netcode.
Well duh. How will this thing compete with Smash Bros. which looks, sounds and feel much better?
Here's another smash clone that will end in the cemetery of the OTHER Smash clones.
Well the free to play aspect would have made me skip it anyway. I don't really care, I got Smash Bros.
If it was a proper game, I might've actually been mildly upset that I couldn't beat up Gandalf as Tom & Jerry, I suppose.
@noobish_hat It's not clickbait since the title is still true. It makes sense for this to be on the Switch yet somehow it isn't. Besides, they made a similar article for Mass Effect Legendary Edition.
Cross platform.. get ready to play. When ever, and what ever console you want.......... SWITCH IS A GOOD START BUT NOOOOOOOO....
lol Rollback is tied to the software folks, not hardware. Mortal Kombat 11, Arms and Nick All Stars on Switch have rollback.
Anyway, this game looks like it has potential... Hard for me to get excited if it's not coming to Switch though. Hopefully it comes eventually, just hope it's not too late because they're making a mistake by not putting a game like this on Switch imo.
Since there are HBO characters in this game, I'll just say this:
If I can play as non-varsity athlete Tony Soprano throwing gabagool at people, then MultiVersus will be my Game of the Generation.
@NoTinderLife most of the sales from Nickelodeon all star brawl came from the switch
i dont mind ftp models as much when purchases dont give any boost or advantage against other players, but i also have more restraint on whaling out on purchases. this looks like a solid effort in the genre, guess ill check it out on PC since ive grown up with a lot of these franchises. seeing their personalities and movesets shine is one of the best things about these kinda games
Sucks for Nintendo only owners, but I personally can't wait. 2 v 2 online was my main gripe with Smash Ultimate, since it was all up to chance and this has a heavy focus on 2 v 2 and WB has a much larger catalog of great characters compared to what's in Smash. And unlike Nickelodian's thing this has real voice actors and isn't constrained by being a kiddy game or cartoony game since WB has an enormous catalog of properties for people of all ages. I'm probably going to be playing a ton of this when it comes out, assuming it plays as good as the video makes it look.
That’s too bad, I would definitely pick it up on Switch. I’ll be playing on PlayStation then.
@mike_intv or it just says nintendo need to update their hardware ....
This honestly looks pretty promising! I look forward to seeing more character reveals. Really hoping for Freddy, Jason, or Pennywise to make it... Courage and the Warner siblings would be really cool to see as well.
@JaneBear Same way when Nick game came out and it died in hype. Just go back to Smash.
Maybe just for the playtest but if not it's the dumbest move ever skipping the system that would probably most likely get the most users for your game
@Skogur Calling it Super Warner Bros. made it sound like it'll be a game about the Animaniacs as Yakko, Wakko, and Dots are known as the Warner Bros. in that show.
It's WB Loss...Besides We all smash bros is better anyways
The production values but ugh. Always online, free 2 play.
Interesting how the team aspect is illustrated here. Not just placing another player in your team and just scrap. Bugs bunny digging a hole and having another player go on said hole to make a tactical vantage. The team aspect won't be for everyone's take but it really does provide a bit of a shake up to the smash gameplay.
That stadia cross through was savage as *****.
Just as well, I probably would have stuck with Smash Bros.: Ultimate anyways.
@Would_you_kindly Except that it is running on PS4 and XBO and the article said there appeared to be nothing in the game that would tax the Switch.
@AkiraHoward My point was that the Switch was more likely to be marketed to younger players than the Sony or Microsoft systems.
If you can't beat them, skip them all together.
Actually looks pretty decent, odd they wouldn't try and get it on the switch though which is sad as I'd play this. Either way, I'm not sure why this is news for a Nintendo site?
@mike_intv PS4 & Xbox one are both more powerful than the switch...
Captain Planet or bust
Is it just me or does the game looks like there’s a lot of lag? The animation looks like it’s 15fps.
I sure hope Carey Mahoney from Police Academy ends up in this game, someday! He's the only other person, besides Shaggy, who I think could canonically mop the floor with Superman. Jokes aside, the trailer doesn't really grab me, but I'm not writing it off just yet.
Well at first glance I’d put it above nick allstars for at least having voice work but I doubt it’ll have all the features and charm of smash. I like having weapons fall from the sky like we get in smash, but so many of its clones completely skip that. It’s free so I’ll try it, but also it’s free so I’m leery.
@NoTinderLife it's been repeated ad nauseaum that there's no benefit from a game running in 4K at 60 FPS when you don't have time to LAUNCH this game. Switch is the kind of console that lets people play the game a lot more consistently - or, in case of many fully employed folks, at all.
As for BotW... does this "iPhone" have a fully voiced protagonist with a gender choice? Does it have the same sense of humour and two bickering narrators? Is it based on Greek mythology instead of a fantasy world? Does it have less varied but infinitely durable and simultaneously equipped weapons? Does it allow special guided arrow shots followed by the camera for snipe shots, certain puzzles and many mundane applications? These are just some of the components making up Immortals' own appeal. It doesn't diminish any part of what BotW does, but it stands on its own, just like the many previous games BotW essentially amalgamated into a masterful package - like I said, for all of the game's awesomeness and fair industry impact, there isn't all that much it invented.
They all look like those Disney Infinity toys!
@Would_you_kindly That is technically true - though it is much closer than Switch compared to PS5 or XBX/S. The point though is that there does not appear to be anything that could not be done/adapted to Switch as many games are released/ported well from that generation of Sony and Microsoft consoles.
My guess is that it is a financial decision rather than a technical one.
These kinda games are very overrated anyway, i remember renting Smash for the 64 and not thinking much of it, they get boring very quickly.
Free to play means I'll be able ti give this a try soon, but shame it's not coming to Switch.
(I also own a PS5 and Xbox One X)
Nyaaaaah whatsup doc!!
eats carrot
@nhSnork I have no idea what you are ranting about.
ppl not giving it a chance because it's free to play is stupid and stubburn, it's free so why not? plus many games go with that model and strive look at pokemon unite.
wonder if there be 1 character vs 1 character mode?
@NoTinderLife not surprised, but I'm also not the one doing the ranting here.
I think it's kinda stupid to skip the Switch, but I don't know how well other Smash clones sell on the Switch. Maybe it's just not as marketable to an audience with easy access to the original.
1) It looks horrible F2P shovelware cash-in, to be perfectly honest.
2) While I agree it's foolish to skip Switch given games like this tend to do pretty well, I can't imagine why this, of all games, deserves to be hilighted
3) Getting tired of articles about games not on the system this site is supposed to be about. It's almost as if there's a motive to spur jealousy and weaponize it for clicks.
no different then genshin impact not coming to switch
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