Unless you’re Nintendo releasing a game called Super Smash Bros, fighting games don’t usually set the world on fire. That’s why I was a little surprised to learn that MultiVersus, the free-to-play Smash-like that joins forces with Warner Bros’ many intellectual properties, is really taking off.
MultiVersus has been popping off since it entered open beta a week ago. It has sat near the top of Steam’s concurrent players list (among juggernauts like CS:GO and Apex Legends) every day, most recently peaking at over 150,000 concurrents. MultiVersus is also available on PlayStation and Xbox, and according to what I’ve seen of its leaderboards, the game has already garnered at least 5 million total players.
Warner Bros hasn’t released any official metrics on MultiVersus, but its leaderboards give us a good idea of how many people have tried the game out over the past week. My friend, who has only played 29 matches, is ranked 4,929,968th best player in the world. I’m starting to see how the MultiVersus community managed to shatter the 3 million ringout community challenge to unlock the Rick and Morty stage in just a few hours.
I’m assuming that’s near the bottom of the totem pole, but it’s possible the floor goes even lower. We’ll know for sure whenever Player First Games gets around to officially celebrating the launch with a big number. As I mentioned recently, fixating on player counts isn't a good idea, but they can be useful for gauging interest, and there does seem to be a hunger for free fighting games on PC. Good news for Riot, which announced today that its League of Legends fighting game will be free-to-play.
