Is MultiVersus “dead?” Many past and present members of its community believe so. Following a hugely successful launch period, the Warner Bros. crossover fighting game has experienced a rapid player count decline, despite multiple updates and the introduction of new characters such as Rick, Morty, and Gizmo. So what gives?
Is MultiVersus a “dead game?”
The term “dead game” is used far too frequently, with players using it to describe everything from games with a stagnant player base to those with huge communities, such as Fortnite. However, in MultiVersus’ case, there’s a strong case to be made for it struggling more than most expected at this juncture.
Using data from its Steam release (via SteamDB), we can see that the game’s PC launch day enjoyed a 150,000 peak. Although PlayStation and Xbox player data isn’t available, this is still evidence of an incredibly healthy release day, rivaling other heavy-hitting live service games.
However, the game has suffered a huge drop-off since that point, now struggling to get over 10,000 peak players daily at the time of this writing, and dipping as low as 2,000 peak players. Considering this drop has taken place over a period of three months, that is a huge decline for a game that was shaping up to be the next big thing.
Compare this with Fall Guys, another sleeper hit that launched on PC back in August 2020. Despite not having the brand appeal of MultiVersus, Fall Guys achieved a similarly massive launch day figure of over 170,000 players, and while it experienced a significant drop in the following months, it took six months before it dropped to a little over the 10,000 peak players mark on PC. Then, in June, the game went to free-to-play — something which MultiVersus has been since the beginning — and received a resurgence in players, taking it over the 50,000 peak concurrent players mark.
What happened to MultiVersus’ player count?
MultiVersus has received a bunch of updates including the addition of new characters, but the fumbling of its Season 1 and Battle Pass launches were major blows to its popularity.
The first season launched without the introduction of its ranked mode, which still remains missing. The Battle Pass was also underwhelming, with both its free and paid tier lacking content that would encourage players to keep coming back for more.
With a lack of incentives for players to stick with the game, MultiVersus was reliant on its new characters bringing in new audiences and convincing old players to return. However, they haven’t had a dramatic impact on the player count, either, with Rick lifting it above 10,000 concurrents before it started dropping once again.
Live service games need to capitalize on the players they attract at launch with a bunch of great content right out of the gate, and MultiVersus struggling to keep players invested is indicative of developer Player First Games failing to do so. While the game isn’t anywhere near “dead” right now as 10,000 peak players per day is still an achievement, it certainly needs to do more with its seasonal content if it wishes to relive the glory days of its launch.
