MultiVersus Dev Calls Out ‘Threats to Harm’ Following Shutdown Announcement: ‘I Am in Deep Mourning for the Game’

The game director of MultiVersus, Tony Huynh, has publicly addressed the severe backlash and "threats to harm" that developers have received following the announcement of the game's impending shutdown. Last week, Player First Games revealed that Season 5 of the Warner Bros. brawler would mark the end, with servers shutting down in May, just one year after its relaunch. Players can still access their earned and purchased content offline through local gameplay and training modes.

With real-money transactions for MultiVersus now discontinued, players can continue using Gleamium and character tokens until support ends on May 30. The game will be delisted from the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Steam, and Epic Games Store at that time. The announcement, coupled with the lack of a refund policy, has led to significant discontent among players, particularly those who purchased the $100 premium Founder's Pack. Many feel "scammed" and are frustrated over the now-useless character tokens, given that they had already unlocked all characters. This has resulted in MultiVersus being review-bombed on Steam.

In a heartfelt statement on Twitter, Huynh expressed gratitude towards Warner Bros. Games, the development teams, IP holders, and the players. He highlighted the team's creativity and passion, and apologized for the situation, explaining that he had been focused on supporting the team amidst the turmoil. Huynh also acknowledged the community's contributions, such as fan art and character ideas, and expressed regret for not being able to include every fan-favorite character, citing various factors like development time and community feedback.

Addressing the threats, Huynh emphasized that while players are entitled to their opinions, threats of harm are unacceptable. He urged the community to reflect on the situation and recognize the emotional toll on the team. He hopes that players will enjoy the final season and continue supporting other platform fighter and fighting games.

Player First Games community manager Angelo Rodriguez Jr. also defended Huynh on Twitter, highlighting his dedication to the game and the community. Rodriguez stressed that threats of physical harm against Huynh were unacceptable and shared how the team continued to work on improvements for the final season.

MultiVersus' shutdown adds to a challenging period for Warner Bros. Games, following the troubled launch of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League last year and the recent departure of Warner Bros. Games boss David Haddad. Warner Bros. Discovery reported that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's failure resulted in a $200 million loss, with MultiVersus contributing an additional $100 million. The company's only new release in Q3 2024, Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, also underperformed.

In a financial call, Warner Bros. Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav acknowledged the underperformance of the games division and announced a focus on four key franchises: Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC, particularly Batman. Recent releases include Batman: Arkham Shadow for VR and an upcoming Wonder Woman game. Despite the setbacks, Mortal Kombat 1 has achieved over five million sales, with more DLC planned.