“Super Smash Bros.” has been the king of massive collaborative party fighting games for a while now. While some games have attempted to have a piece of the pie, such as “Playstation All Stars: Battle Royale,” “Rivals of Aether,” and the recently released “Nickelodeon: All Star Brawl,” none of them have been able to truly capture the magic of “Smash Bros.”
While the new game “MultiVersus,” released this past summer, isn’t at that point yet, it has lots going for it that it has the potential to be on the level of a “Smash Bros.” game.
One key area for success that “MultiVersus” is banking on is its status as one of the only fighting games using the “free to play, games as a service” approach. This means that the game is initially free to play and download and instead makes its profit from microtransactions in the form of an in-game currency that will earn you characters, alternate costumes and more.
One of the greatest ways that this approach helps with a matchmaking fighting game like “MultiVersus” is its ability to add rewards and benefits through its battle pass system. This system gives players an initial free battle pass that supplies rewards for continuous play, and more if they decide to buy in. Providing players with prizes, even when they lose a match, gives an incentive to continue the game as there will always be something to work towards.
The main reason that “MultiVersus” has a promising future as a competitor to “Super Smash Bros.” is its overall support and roster potential. The current roster shows a mix of 19 characters, all from the Warner Bros. Discovery catalog except for the original character Reindog. Notable media includes the DC Universe, “Adventure Time,” “Steven Universe” and “Rick and Morty,” so you can see Finn and Jake duke it out with Batman and Superman. With a steady biweekly character release schedule, there will surely be interest in who joins the battle next.
Only time will tell if “MultiVersus” will truly be able to reach the same heights that the “Super Smash Bros.” series has achieved over the years, but it’s certainly off to a great start.
