WB Games and Player First Games (PFG) are set to relaunch MultiVersus (MVS) soon, bringing back one of the most exciting “platform fighters” in recent memory. The situation around the Open Beta period was fraught with some confusing messaging and technical issues leading to frustration from the fans, to say the least. But there’s no denying the solid foundation and genuine excitement from the community for the game pretty much from day one. And with 1.0 arriving on May 28, 2024, a lot more is coming to MultiVersus than just the return of online play and microtransactions.
For a refresher, check out the initial announcement (re-announcement?) above. From there, let’s go over everything we’ve learned about MultiVersus 1.0 since, from specifics on gameplay adjustments, to netcode, and most recently, even new characters.
Changes to Netcode
MultiVersus had different kinds of technical issues (and, to give credit where it’s due, constant effort from the team to address them), but nothing is more important in fighting games than netcode. To that end, there’s a developer blog from PFG all about what’s going on with MVS’ netcode. Here are the basics:
- Rollback! Everyone loves rollback.
- The rollback code is “bespoke,” and other aspects of the game had to be tweaked to accommodate
- Rollback allows for broader matchmaking, which was previously limited by latency
The full blog post, with details on previous issues and jokes at Shaggy’s expense, can be read here.
Gameplay changes
As players who were around since day one can attest to, a lot of changes were made to MultiVersus under the hood during its Open Beta. Even more changes have been made since, in hopes of a more polished, balanced, and generally complete-feeling game for launch. Fingers crossed! Here are some of the confirmed changes from the team so far:
- Unreal 5!
- Character models are larger (see images above). Blast zones in stages have been adjusted accordingly.
- Camera movement is “more dynamic,” largely meaning it will zoom in/out, and even pan as needed to keep the action clear
- New animations and sound effects have been added to better clarify which “state” characters are in, which seems like an effort to better communicate things like hit stun/confirms. See it in action here!
- Character kit changes have been implemented, which range from giving characters from the Open Beta brand new moves, or significant changes to previous moves to make them more viable.
- Armor has been tweaked, now using some defense meter. More armor-breaking or multi-hit moves have been added for the roster as well. New perks and limitations for armor are also confirmed.
- Stages will have casual and competitive variants, rather than simply toggling hazards on/off.
- Perks have been updated; no specifics yet but it has been confirmed players will “always have access to at least one full set.”
New features!
Parrying is a thing now! This feature was implemented after the team noted neutral dodging was underpowered. If done correctly, this new defensive option gives players a faster recovery than their attacker, opening up a high risk/reward situation. Parries also break armor, and draw characters in from a distance (how far isn’t clear yet). Projectiles can be parried, and even reflected with the Clear the Air perk.
A new Dash Attack was implemented to give characters a little more flexibility and space control. Here’s a short clip of Iron Giant doing a cool elbow drop as an example.
Confirmed in the initial release date trailer, a new PvE mode will be available at launch, which will include “additional ways of playing, with unique rewards.” Previously an arcade mode was introduced during the Open Beta, but it was fairly bare-bones. This definitely sounds different.
Gameplay changes and new features were either confirmed in this “Combat Refactor” blog post, or a recent Q&A with some developers in the official MultiVersus Discord server.
New characters?
In the time between pitching and actually writing this article, PFG was kind enough to reveal The Joker is joining the roster. They even got Mark Hamill to do the voice work! See the image on the right for the basics on what to expect from his kit.
I can’t believe they killed Shaggy. It’s almost as shocking as that time Sephiroth killed Super Mario! To be fair, he kinda had it coming, though. Fighting a good Shaggy suuuuucks.
This is all we know about MultiVersus’ upcoming relaunch, which is set for May 28, 2024. With a few more weeks to go, it’s certainly likely even more information will come out. Stay tuned for more MVS content here at Kotaku, at least as long as I’m allowed to stick around. I, for one, am pretty stoked about Taz-mania running wild once again.
