Fresh out of Evo, Warner Bros. announced that they have acquired the developer of platform fighter Multiversus for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition of Player First Games fits WB Games' strategy of focusing on live service games, as they lockdown the creator of the free-to-play crossover fighter, while keeping the same talent in charge of the studio. It seems that despite Multiversus open beta being closed before the game was reworked some for its full release in May, WB Games is committed to the game.
“We have worked with Player First Games over several years to create and launch MultiVersus, and we are very pleased to welcome this talented team to Warner Bros. Games. The bright and creative team at Player First Games adds to our extensive development capabilities.” - David Haddad, President, Warner Bros. Games.
That can change quickly with Warner Bros. Discovery which has been somewhat chaotic for a while and is continuing to attempt to right itself after the costly merger between WB and Discovery. This has led to many layoffs and controversial decisions over the last few years. Recently that has hit the game division, with Warner Bros. Games closing Mortal Kombat: Onslaught, and laying off most of the NetherRealms mobile team. Other choices, like the live service focus of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and the delisting of many Adult Swim games from storefronts, are part of this ongoing disorganization and live service focus.
“Our team is excited to join the Warner Bros. Games family, and we feel that this will be great for MultiVersus overall. We are working to make the MultiVersus game experience the best it can be and having our development team integrated with the publisher is optimum for the players.” - Tony Huynh, Head of Player First Games.
Multiversus Season 2 Launches Tomorrow
The big fighting game tournament EVO was over this past weekend, and Multiversus joined many games displaying what is coming in the future for the game. While some were showing off things further off, the future is tomorrow with Multiversus with season 2, and they showed off the first Samurai Jack gameplay. Season 2's launch will also include ranked mode, for people to earn exclusive cosmetic rewards for getting sufficiently sweaty, and the Water Tower, a new map based on the WB water tower.
Later in the season, expect to see Beetlejuice, as they aim to launch the character later in the season. This will position it closer to the release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the sequel to 1988's Beetlejuice, as part of the whole purpose of Multiversus is to take advantage of the wealth of IP at WB Discovery's disposal and to help promote releases. That release will put it closer to the release of Heihachi Mishima's release for Tekken 8 which was also revealed at Evo.
