WB Games had originally announced that May 30 would be the last day for the MultiVersus servers all the way back in January. In its announcement, the company had said that the game’s fifth season would serve as its final update.

Along with taking the servers offline, MultiVersus will also be delisted from all digital storefronts, including Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store. This means that no new players will be able to buy the game going forward.

“This decision was not made lightly,” posted developer Player First Games back when it had announced the servers being shut down. “All of us on the Player First Games and Warner Bros Games teams have put our heart and soul into MultiVersus, creating a unique social and cooperative experience from the ground up that brings together a variety of popular characters and worlds.”

“We are very proud of the game we have built and are incredibly thankful for the support of the MultiVersus community throughout this journey. Your passion and enthusiasm have been unmatched.”

The servers being shut down comes just a few months after Player First Games itself was also closed. The studio’s closure came alongside the closure of WB Games San Diego, and Monolith, as well as an in-development game based on the Wonder Woman franchise. “This is a strategic change in direction and not a reflection of these teams or the talent within them,” said the company in a statement announcing the studio closures.

While MultiVersus had scene some success back when it originally launched in closed alpha all the way back in 2022, the game lost most of its player base quickly, before the alpha was shut down. It later got a full relaunch in May 2024 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. However, despite the relaunch, the game was never able to get back the traction it had originally built up.

Rumours have indicated that the commercial failure of MultiVersus may have contributed to Warner Bros. Games facing quite a bit of heat in terms of its financial state, leading the company to shut down development on Monolith’s Wonder Woman game. MultiVersus, along with Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League had been implicated in this by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier.

“Last year Suicide Squad was a humongous flop – they wrote off $200 million because of that. MultiVersus and Quidditch Champions, also both flops, [they] wrote off another $100 million because of that,” said Schrier, pointing out that WB Games’ forays into live-service games had just not been working out for the company under the leadership of former head David Haddad.

Haddad has since stepped down from his position, being succeeded by JB Perrette, who also serves as the CEO and president of Warner Bros. Discovery’s global streaming and games division.

The reason behind these closures? Per an email to Kotaku, “We have had to make some very difficult decisions to structure our development studios and investments around building the best games possible with our key franchises – Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC and Game of Thrones.” Closing the aforementioned studios is a “strategic change in direction” and “not a reflection of these teams or the talent that consists within them.” You’ve probably spotted the contradictions already, but we’ll get into it shortly.

Regarding Wonder Woman, the company sought “the highest quality experience possible for the iconic character, and unfortunately, this is no longer possible within our strategic priorities. This is another tough decision, as we recognize Monolith’s storied history of delivering epic fan experiences through amazing games. We greatly admire the passion of the three teams and thank every employee for their contributions.”

It also said that despite the difficulties of today, you should all rest assured. Warner Bros. will “remain focused on and excited about getting back to producing high-quality games for our passionate fans and developed by our world-class studios and getting our Games business back to profitability and growth in 2025 and beyond.” Don’t worry about all those people who lost their jobs, everyone – WB Games is going to get back to profitability. The part about how this doesn’t reflect the teams or the quality of talent feels all the more insulting – like an “It’s not you, it’s us” situation.

You could argue that the closures of Player First Games and WB Games San Diego make sense from a “business perspective.” MultiVersus was a massive flop, contributing to a $100 million loss for Warner Bros, and will be shutting servers off in May with only offline play available afterwards. Meanwhile, WB Games San Diego was established in 2019 to work on free-to-play mobile games and hasn’t really delivered anything.

However, this is all more due to too many of the company’s releases missing the mark, per an alleged memo written by WB’s head of games and streaming, JB Perrette, obtained by Bloomberg. “We need to make some substantial changes to our portfolio/team structure if we are to commit the necessary resources to get back to a ‘fewer but bigger franchises’ strategy.”

While MultiVersus was one of those releases, other significant failures included Quidditch Champions and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The latter is perhaps the most egregious due to debuting universally reviled gameplay in 2023, getting delayed by almost a year, and then still launching to a negative response. It contributed to a $200 million impact on revenue for Warner Bros., and yet, continued to receive support and new content until January 2024.

All of this is seemingly due to the poor decisions made by former WB Games president David Haddad over the years. As Bloomberg reported earlier this month, it was under his leadership that these projects were greenlit. Then there’s the fact that WB Games Montreal was shafted for its Suicide Squad project, and even when reportedly it tried new pitches like Constantine, they were left on read. A Flash video game was the next pitch, but after the film’s flop, this too was scrapped. The frustration of dealing with WB Games allegedly caused many of the Montreal studio’s leadership to depart over the years.

Then there were all the disturbing details about Wonder Woman – how it was reportedly rebooted last year with a budget well $100 million and how the project was failing to “coalesce.” Even the acclaimed Nemesis System, made famous in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and War and never seen ever again, was seemingly pushed aside in favor of a more typical action-adventure experience.

It could be argued that WB Games is doing all this to correct Haddad’s mistakes, especially with how significantly they’ve impacted the company’s 2024 revenue. And yet, the hogwash about focusing on its key franchises – like DC – is all the more baffling since Wonder Woman is a DC property. Perhaps it means the rumored new Batman title from Rocksteady Studios, which won’t be out for years yet.

Then again, closing studios and taking employees off the payroll to later claim those reduced costs as improvements to the bottom line is perhaps the long-term goal. Gotta give those investors and shareholders some pounds of flesh in time for the next quarterly financial results, after all.

However anyone wants to try and justify it, this is such a massive waste of talent. Even if you didn’t like MultiVersus, it clearly had potential and loyal fans at the start, which were slowly squandered due to its live-service aspirations and monetization. Is it a coincidence that this happened in the same year that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said the company was placing more emphasis on live-service titles to  “drive engagement and monetization of longer cycles and at higher levels?”

Monolith Productions hurts all the more because of the beloved titles it delivered over more than three decades. Titles like Condemned, Blood, Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, Alien vs. Predator 2, and much more remain classics – many remain my favorite titles to date. To see the studio tossed aside because of terrible management, as the higher-ups portend to focusing on “high-quality games” while seemingly preventing the studio from working on anything else, is just sad. If Wonder Woman was cancelled, it wouldn’t have been the most surprising thing, especially if WB Games didn’t want to shoulder further costs. But to do away with the studio as a whole leaves a bad taste.

This could be seen as more layoffs in an industry afflicted with the same since late 2023. Let’s not forget that other big-time publishers like Sony, Microsoft, EA and Take-Two Interactive have gone through layoffs and/or studio closures over that period. Don’t even get me started on the whole mess involving NetEase Games and reports of divesting its many overseas ventures.

However, these are more tragedies stemming from the many questionable decisions made by Warner Bros. Discovery over the past several years. Even as the company prepares for the next Hogwarts Legacy (with the first game reportedly receiving new content) and whatever Rocksteady cooks up, it’s difficult to really get excited.

Who else will be next on the chopping block? What other projects will suddenly get the rug pulled out because they suffered from prior mismanagement? Regardless of whether things improve or not, it’s the developers suffering at the end of the day, regardless of their past successes or loyalty, even in the face of executive bumbling.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

In its statement, the company said it had to make “some very difficult decisions to structure our development studios and investments around building the best games possible with our key franchises – Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC and Game of Thrones.” The decision to close Monolith, Player First Games and WB Games San Diego occurred after “careful consideration.”

“This is a strategic change in direction and not a reflection of these teams or the talent within them.”

Regarding Wonder Woman, the company hoped to offer “the highest quality experience possible for the iconic character, and unfortunately, this is no longer possible within our strategic priorities.”

“This is another tough decision, as we recognize Monolith’s storied history of delivering epic fan experiences through amazing games. We greatly admire the passion of the three teams and thank every employee for their contributions. As difficult as today is, we remain focused on and excited about getting back to producing high-quality games for our passionate fans, developed by our world-class studios, and getting our games business back to profitability and growth in 2025 and beyond.”

Reports of Wonder Woman’s troubled development appeared earlier this month, revealing that it was rebooted in early 2024. Its budget reportedly exceeded $100 million but “struggled to coalesce.” While noted to be years off from release, there was concern whether it would ever launch.

As for Player First Games, it recently announced the end of service for MultiVersus in May. The platform fighter had a mixed reception after exiting open beta and contributed to a $100 million loss for WB Games. WB Games San Diego was established in 2019 to develop free-to-play mobile games, though nothing concrete emerged.

Players with Gleamium and character tokens can still use them until May 30th. Unfortunately, at 9 AM PST on the same day, servers will go offline and the game will be delisted from all storefronts. However, it will remain playable offline with local play for up to four players and battles against the AI.

You’ll need to download the latest update (aka Season 5) from February 4th to May 30th and create a local save file. All content, including paid items, will thus remain available offline going forward.

MultiVersus is available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. It launched as an open beta in 2022 before being taken offline in 2023 and re-launched in 2024. However, it faced criticism from various changes – check out our review for more details.

As reported by IGN, during the company’s recent quarterly earnings call, it was revealed that MultiVersus has not only underperformed, it has underperformed so poorly that it has contributed to an additional $100 million loss for WB Games, adding to the heavy losses the company had already incurred earlier in the year due to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

“We recognise [the games business] is substantially underperforming its potential right now,” said Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels added, “We took another $100 million plus impairment due to the underperforming releases, primarily MultiVersus this quarter, bringing total writedown year-to-date to over $300 million in our games business, a key factor in this year’s studio profit decline.”

Following its heavy losses, WB Games will double down on four core franchises in the form of Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, Batman, and Game of Thrones. Read more on that through here.

MultiVersus is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Read our review of the game through here. Shortly after the game’s launch, it was announced in July that developer Player First Games had been acquired by WB Games.

Nubia, Queen of the Amazons, and steadfast ally of Wonder Woman herself, will be joining her fellow Amazonian warrior in MultiVersus tomorrow, on Octoebr 15, as part of another free updated. Armed with a spear, she’s effective at both close-range and long-range melee attacks, while also being particularly nimble and agile with her movements, which will likely make her a popular choice for many. Check out the gameplay trailer below for a glimpse of what she will bring to the table. 

MultiVersus is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. 

A new trailer showcases the trio in action, offering glimpses of how they will function in battles together, some of the attacks and special abilities they will have at their disposal, and more. Players can also look forward to Townsville making its way into the game, not to mention different variants for The Powerpuff Girls, some of which can be spotted in the trailer. Check it out below. 

Later in Season 3, MultiVersus will also add the DC character Nubia, Queen of the Amazons. Previously, MultiVersus adding Beetlejuice in August, and prior to that, Samurai Jack and Agent Smith in July. 

MultiVersus is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Publisher WB Games acquired developer Player First Games not long after release.

With a new trailer, WB Games has revealed that Beetlejuice will be added to MultiVersus next week, on August 20. Unsurprisingly, his moveset will see him using his creepy shapeshifting powers, in addition to being able to summon plenty of creepy-crawlies for aid. Other variants of the character will, of course, also be available. Check out the trailer for a glimpse of what Bettlejuice will bring to the table. 

MultiVersus is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Developer Player First Games was recently acquired by publisher WB Games, further cementing their partnership. Read more on that through here.

Player First Games was established in 2019 in Los Angeles by co-founders studio head Tony Huynh and head of technology Chris White, both of whom will remain in charge of the studio following its acquisition, except now they will report directly to Carlos Barbosa, who is vice president and studio head of Warner Bros. Games San Diego.

“Our team is excited to join the Warner Bros. Games family, and we feel that this will be great for MultiVersus overall,” said Huynh. “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.”

“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,” said WB Games president David Haddad. “The bright and creative team at Player First Games adds to our extensive development capabilities.”

After entering an extended beta in 2022, MultiVersus launched in full earlier this year with an upgraded engine and overhauled gameplay. Read our review of the game through here.

On July 23, MultiVersus will be adding Samurai Jack to its roster of playable fighters, with Beetlejuice coming later.

MultiVersus is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

First up is Samurai Jack, the katana wielding eponymous protagonist of the Cartoon Network animated series, who will kick off MultiVersus’ Season 2: Back in Time with his addition to the roster on July 23. Later on in the season, the game will also add the ghost Beetlejuice. There’s no word on exactly when he will arrive, but WB Games says it will align with the upcoming release of the film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which is releasing in September. 

In addition to the two DLC characters, WB Games has also announced that MultiVersus is adding a Ranked Mode on July 23, the day that Season 2 releases. Ranked Mode will include 1v1 and 2v2 matches and include exclusive cosmetic rewards. 

MultiVersus is available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.