MultiVersus is being shut down after almost a year spent in open beta, gearing up for a full release in 2024, and there is absolutely no justification for this. MultiVersus was warmly received at launch, but since then its popularity has dwindled, in part because updates have been agonisingly slow recently. In fact, there were fewer days between MultiVersus launching and its latest update, Marvin the Martian, than there were between Marvin the Martian and the announcement that the beta was being shut down. Whatever the problems, there is no reason the game should be going offline completely - and this problem isn't specific to MultiVersus.
Clearly, Players First Games and WB Games need some time to get their act together. Whether it has been finagling over IP (Lord of the Rings was conspicuous by its absence) or difficulties with balancing and getting new characters ready in a timely manner, the game has not gone as the most optimistic of fans might have hoped. Disappointing as that is, nobody begrudges the team saying 'we need some time to get it sorted'. MultiVersus is down, but it doesn't need to be out.
However, the classy thing to do would be to stay online while everything was fixed. Some players have shelled out in the hundreds for Founder's Packs and premium currency (with some items completely unavailable without paying real cash), and now the game is being taken away from them. Yes, the player count was low, and without any hope of updates coming in the near future, could tumble further. I don't think these arguments hold much weight when players have paid real money. They have bought it, so should keep it. You’ll still be able to play offline when the beta is taken down (suggesting this isn’t actually a beta closing at all), but when all you can do in MultiVersus is fight friends and strangers online, letting you keep the game’s skeleton dancing.
The problem is, you can no longer rely on live-service games to do the classy thing. I’ll admit I’m not their biggest fan for entirely personal, subjective reasons. Much like my colleague Andrew King, I need to feel as if I’m working towards a goal, and when live-service games exist by kicking the can down the road, I can’t get into them. I like a narrative focus with a beginning, middle, and ending, but look at Destiny 2. It’s one of the most praised live-service games for narrative (Lightfall notwithstanding), but it’s impossible to start at the beginning these days, and the ending is not an end, but a pause until the next content pack arrives.
But in the grand scheme of things, these aren’t important complaints. So it’s not for me, who cares? But as MultiVersus shows, live-service games always have the potential to pull the rug from under you. As more single-player games adopt live-service tactics (Gotham Knights, Kill the Justice League), and live-service games begin to outgrow their framework with direct sequels, it’s important to take stock of where live-service games are. Unfortunately, a lot of them are already in the trash.
Echo VR, Crimesight, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai - A Hero’s Bonds, CrossfireX, Rumbleverse. Knockout City, Apex Mobile, and Battlefield Mobile all shut down within ten days of each other back in February. Marvel’s Avengers is going away soon, Hyper Scape didn’t last very long, and we can trace this all the way back to Battleborn - it is in the DNA of these games that if they fail, they die. If a single-player game fails, it might sell poorly or have some bugs, but the vast majority of the time it will always be available. If it ever isn’t, it will be because of a storefront closure like Nintendo is currently doing, not a reason specific to that game.
However, with live-service games, failure means disappearing. If there’s a new live-service game that might not make it, we’re at the point where people will ignore it rather than risk it, making it more likely the game fails. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy of the medium’s own making.
You could argue MultiVersus was only in beta, but it had been in the wild for months and there was an expectation the full launch would roll right into it. Now, there’s doubt it’s even coming back at all. It’s a new low for live-service games, and one that will stick with players for a long time. In going down so dramatically, MultiVersus may have unwittingly pulled some others down with it.