MultiVersus Announces Release Date, Engine Changes and Even Wackier Combat

The wait is over as MultiVersus has finally announced an official release on May 28, 2024. The crossover platform fighting game featuring many beloved Warner Bros. characters is finally returning with a ton of new changes after its Open Beta period ended all the way back in 2023.

This announcement has been teased since last week when the game’s X (formerly Twitter) account suddenly returned and brought everyone’s attention to it. Fast forward a few days and now the game has its official release date announced in a small developer video, almost exactly a year after the Beta was over.

Aside from being the real deal this time, MultiVersus has been completely rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, leading to even further graphical quality and, hopefully, a smoother experience overall. Game Director Tony Huynh expresses his excitement about the new visuals and performance results, remaking how “Shaggy’s sandwiches have never looked better”.

This complete reforging of the game has also allowed them to include a brand-new net code aimed at online gameplay. While not specifically stated, this is implied to be the usual rollback net code implemented in most recent fighting games, widely considered as the perfect way to tackle connection issues during online matches for this fast-paced genre.

But don’t worry if you don’t care much about PvP. Differently from the launch, MultiVersus will be featuring new PvE modes with unique rewards. Is Story Mode finally here? I sure hope so, because getting to see Taz unironically interacting with Arya Stark and Black Adam would make my day. But a regular Arcade Mode would also be fine as long as it has enough rewards to keep us on the grind.

Speaking of unexpected crossovers, these are obviously the bread and butter of MultiVersus, so you can surely expect new characters and scenarios coming in future updates. The 23-man roster from Beta should be here at launch, and we might see more announcements in the next few weeks.

Some concept arts revealed characters atop different scenarios such as Townsville Hall, so the Powerpuff Girls are very strong contenders for upcoming fighters. A Dexter’s Laboratory-inspired scenario was also shown at a moment. Dee Dee when?!

Even with only a few brief pieces of info, MultiVersus seems ready to pack a punch with its official release later this year, so all that’s left is to wait until we get more news about this crazy mess of a Smash-like. Hopefully, more fan favorites are already on the way.