In perhaps some of the worst possible timing, Warner Bros. Discovery’s subsidiary, Warner Bros. Games, has revealed their Smash Bros.-esque fighter, MultiVersus, is returning in late May. Of course, the gaming side of WBD isn’t in the best light right now what with their decision to dismantle Adult Swim Games and plans to delist a bunch of ASG’s library and forcing devs to republish their games without the studio’s aid and without the established base that they have accrued.
In and of itself, the decision to revive the fighter isn’t a bad concept, prior to its delisting back in April 2023, they promised the studio would circle back to platform fighter. As it turns out, a lot has happened since the game’s delisting — it’s been rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, fosters a new Netcode, and better multiplayer stability.
Mics? Checked. MVPs? Rabid. Netcode? Updated. Game engine? Unreal 5’d. Tony? Ready. #MultiVersus launch date? May 28th. pic.twitter.com/CWnXDL1Mr4
— MultiVersus (@multiversus) March 11, 2024
While we commend WBD for keeping to its word that the game was coming back, we can’t help keep one eye open as they could easily just pull it again and shut down servers if the launch and next few months don’t go according to plan. Unfortunately, Warner Bros. Games is heavily into the live service model, so we can assume even good games could end up lost to time once their time is up.
Their release date does align with previous statements in MultiVersus’ (archived) FAQ, believing it would be fully launched in early 2024. In a spark of what we assume is coincidence, though, buried under this piece of news is the bitter stuff surrounding Adult Swim Games’ shakeups, leading to hard work getting delisted for no real reason.
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GWare is a gaming industry reporter with over five years of experience and a massive supporter of ethical game preservation efforts.