The game director of MultiVersus, Tony Huynh, has publicly addressed the "threats to harm" developers that surfaced after the announcement of the game's impending shutdown. Last week, Player First Games revealed that Season 5 of the Warner Bros. brawler would mark its final chapter, with servers set to go offline in May, just a year after the game's relaunch. Players will still have access to all earned and purchased content offline through local gameplay and training modes.
While real-money transactions for MultiVersus have ceased, players can continue using Gleamium and character tokens to unlock in-game content until support ends on May 30. At that time, MultiVersus will be removed from the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Steam, and Epic Games Store.
The announcement, coupled with the absence of a refund policy, sparked backlash from players, especially those who had purchased the $100 premium Founder's Pack. Many felt "scammed," and some players who had already unlocked all characters found their remaining character tokens useless. This dissatisfaction has led to review bombing on Steam.
In response, Tony Huynh, co-founder of Player First Games and game director of MultiVersus, took to Twitter to express his gratitude to the team, Warner Bros., IP holders, and the players. He also apologized for the delay in addressing the situation, focusing on the game and the team's well-being. Huynh highlighted the joy the community's fan art, character ideas, and stories brought to the team and explained the complexities of character selection and development.
Huynh emphasized the collaborative nature of Player First Games and their commitment to delivering value to players. He acknowledged the pain felt by everyone involved and called out the threats of harm as unacceptable, urging the community to recognize the team's efforts and the sadness they feel over the game's end. He encouraged players to enjoy Season 5 and continue supporting other platform fighter and fighting games.
Player First Games community manager and game developer Angelo Rodriguez Jr. defended Huynh on X/Twitter, condemning the threats of physical harm against him. Rodriguez praised Huynh's dedication to the game and the community, emphasizing the team's hard work and passion.
MultiVersus' closure adds to Warner Bros. Games' recent challenges, following the disappointing launch of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The departure of Warner Bros. Games boss David Haddad was announced amid a difficult year for the company. Parent company Warner Bros. Discovery reported that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's failure cost them $200 million, with MultiVersus adding another $100 million to the losses. The only new game release in the third quarter of 2024, Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, also failed to make a significant impact.
In a financial call, Warner Bros. Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav acknowledged the underperformance of their games business and announced a focus on four key franchises: Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC, particularly Batman. Warner Bros. recently released Batman: Arkham Shadow exclusively for the Meta Quest 3 and is developing a Wonder Woman game at Monolith Productions.
