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MultiVersus is being played more than every other fighting game on PC combined and it's not even out of Early Access yet

8BiTw0LF

Banned
24-multiversus-most-popular-fighter.webp

MultiVersus technically isn't available to everyone just yet, but thousands upon thousands of players are already pouring in to check out the new platform fighting game.

Even with the title still being in limited Early Access, MultiVersus is setting records for fighting games on PC, and its average player count is higher than every other major fighter on Steam combined.

Using the helpful data from Steam Charts, Warner Bros.' platform fighter has an average of 38,872 players online at any given time and an absolutely massive all-time peak of 61,964.

We logged the averages and peaks of 13 of the other largest and fighting games still being supported on PC, and guess what.

Their combined total average over the past month is only 28,902 even with the free-to-play workhorse that is Brawlhalla, which is arguably MultiVersus' biggest competition aside from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Unless Street Fighter 6, Project L or something else blows up massively in the near future, MultiVersus has already set the record for all-time peak players too that will stick around.

The next 2 closest to it for peaks are Dragon Ball FighterZ at 44,234 players and Brawlhalla's 34,169.

And remember, this is only counting Steam's numbers, and MultiVersus hasn't entered its open beta yet.

While MultiVersus is "free," the game's not freely available to everyone right now, as the only ones who can currently play are those who were in the previous closed alpha tests, those who buy a Founder's Pack, people who watch 1 hour of the game on Twitch or players who signed up to compete at Evo 2022.

Title30-Day Average24-Hour PeakAll-time Peak
MultiVersus38,87251,34661,964
Brawlhalla12,42617,29834,169
Tekken 74,4366,42818,766
DNF Duel2,7661,26712,324
Street Fighter 52,3493,10813,807
Mortal Kombat 112,1392,58227,301
Guilty Gear Strive1,8291,92130,939
Dragon Ball FighterZ1,6331,93044,234
King of Fighters 155428138,205
Rivals of Aether4226182,828
Granblue fantasy: Versus1621802,599
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax961145,628
Melty Blood: Type Lumina7210613,182
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl30469,120

It's certainly looking like WB's approach to making a free-to-play, cross-platform fighter full of recognizable characters will pay off massively for the company and developers.

Depending on just how high it can fly once it enters Open Beta this week and upon full release, developers and publishers across the space are going to be watching the success very closely — and some will likely change up their own plans accordingly.

This is certainly a sign that a free-to-play fighting game with good online and crossplay can work and do so very well, which could shake up the landscape as we know it.

Obviously, we'll need to see how those numbers are looking in the long-term after the release hype, but starting this high already very well could mean that MultiVersus will continue to be the biggest dude on the block (except maybe Smash Ultimate).

24_mvv.webp


Developer support and communities are also important factors for a game's health, as the chart shows that long-established titles like Tekken 7 are beating out new ones like DNF Duel and The King of Fighters 15 handily.

MultiVersus' games as a service approach means that the fighter will continue to see frequent and notable updates for likely years to come so long as numbers remain good and the money rolls in.

While Smash will certainly be fine, I'd be absolutely sweating if I was in charge of Brawlhalla right now, and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl isn't even a blip on the radar.

We'll of course be tracking MultiVersus' success and performance as it enters its next phases, but big changes appear to be on the horizon, if they aren't already here.

 
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Fbh

Member
Good on them but not all too surprising.
It might involve characters fighting but I you are basically comparing a party game to a more niche genre of gaming

...let's not compare player numbers for free games with games that have a 60$ price tag.

To be fair though, it's already pretty big and it's not officially out for free yet.
To access the current beta you need to have been part of the alpha, gotten a key from some streamer or bought a founders pack for I think $40.

It's probably going to do even better tomorrow when it actually launches and you can go directly to steam and download it for free
 

ManaByte

Member
Game is awesome.

It's probably going to have longer legs than Smash because it's available on everything and is free.

Even at launch it's better than the Nick fighter. They have the right character voices, and they're character aware. So when Shaggy is teamed with Superman he knows he's fighting with Superman and comments on that.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
The power of F2P (with good monetization), popular IPs, and well, it being a dumb fun game, honestly. I'm curious to know how it looks on other platforms as well.

They seem to be doing a good job with new content coming so soon, but hopefully they stay on that, and do the same with fixes/balance changes too. Only time will tell. But I can say this is the best Smash-like that I've personally played yet.
 
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MrMephistoX

Member
It's very good! Like Smash, just free and every character can be unlocked without using money - just like Apex.
TBH this is the business model that makes the most sense for fighters moving forward. Base game is free and you can pay for all the fighters with a rotating free character or just grind them out and get cosmetic items and stages too.

Street Fighter V had to have it both ways $60 price tag with a small roster and DLC and initially flopped but it’s gotten way better. Marvel vs Capcom Infinite wasn’t as lucky.

F2P versions with the promise of shit tons of characters and cosmetics is clearly working here hopefully more fighters will adopt this model.
 
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Reizo Ryuu

Member
Most of those games are frequently under $10.
because they are years old...what the hell is this argument? Also in that case it's still whatever discounted $ vs 0$
To be fair though, it's already pretty big and it's not officially out for free yet.
To access the current beta you need to have been part of the alpha, gotten a key from some streamer or bought a founders pack for I think $40.
I think you're overestimating how many people paid any money for this, there's streamers that run the stream 24/7, so you don't even have to watch anything, just run it in the background while you're cooking a meal and boom, free access; also if you had access to the closed alpha, you got the invite 3 other people to it, why not try a game for free with your friends?
 

Lasha

Member
It's being played by streamers and drops are enabled which is helping to boost it's visibility. I think writing off the genre is a bit premature at this juncture.
 

Fbh

Member
because they are years old...what the hell is this argument? Also in that case it's still whatever discounted $ vs 0$

I think you're overestimating how many people paid any money for this, there's streamers that run the stream 24/7, so you don't even have to watch anything, just run it in the background while you're cooking a meal and boom, free access; also if you had access to the closed alpha, you got the invite 3 other people to it, why not try a game for free with your friends?

Could be.
But I still think the convenience of just being able to download it with 2 clicks instead of having to run a stream in the background or have a friend who was in the Alpha is going to have notorious effect in the player count.

With that said when it comes to games like these the initial player count isn't that important, what really matters is if they manage to keep a big and active community. If this game is still doing great in 8-12 months, then I'll be impressed.
 
The game is currently not free. Everyone playing has paid at least $40 for it.
That's not quite true. You can watch a twitch streamer play the game with drops enabled for an hour and get a closed beta code. Lots of people are playing this for free right now, and it opens up for everyone tomorrow.

I'm going to say right now that it's also going to be a continuing success. I believe people who think this game is going to die off quickly are mistaken. Warner Brothers, DC Comics, and Cartoon Network are all massive resources for content, and I think the game will continuously be used to promote new movies and television programs for a long time to come.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
The game is currently not free. Everyone playing has paid at least $40 for it.
Can't tell if joke or not, but majority of the players got access from Twitch drops, which are free. Or they had access to a previous test, which automatically gave them access. Which was obtained free via previous sign-ups, invites from other players, or (very few I'm sure) they bought access from a key site.

Or you can buy one of 3 Founder's Packs that all offer access and additional content.
 
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Lady Jane

Banned
TBH this is the business model that makes the most sense for fighters moving forward. Base game is free and you can pay for all the fighters with a rotating free character or just grind them out and get cosmetic items and stages too.

Since the success of LoL and now Fortnite, I'm surprised whenever I see a premium fighting game release. The freemium model with cosmetics has proven to be successful and the fighting genre can easily adopt that.
 

Batiman

Banned
That's not quite true. You can watch a twitch streamer play the game with drops enabled for an hour and get a closed beta code. Lots of people are playing this for free right now, and it opens up for everyone tomorrow.

I'm going to say right now that it's also going to be a continuing success. I believe people who think this game is going to die off quickly are mistaken. Warner Brothers, DC Comics, and Cartoon Network are all massive resources for content, and I think the game will continuously be used to promote new movies and television programs for a long time to come.
Ya that’s how my son got it
 

MiguelItUp

Member
I think it’s pretty trash but only played like 2 rounds. My son seems to enjoy it but it looks like he’s already bored of it.
Yeah, definitely may not be everyone's cup of tea for sure. The game is still very much in an early phase, so all the characters and content isn't present. Surely it'll only get better with time.
 

Batiman

Banned
Yeah, definitely may not be everyone's cup of tea for sure. The game is still very much in an early phase, so all the characters and content isn't present. Surely it'll only get better with time.
I guess I’m just comparing it to smash. It just doesn’t feel as good. Might just have to adjust and see the game for what it is
 

MiguelItUp

Member
I guess I’m just comparing it to smash. It just doesn’t feel as good. Might just have to adjust and see the game for what it is
Oh yeah, I get that. Smash is definitely the best feeling one IMO. This feels close to me, but there's something off about movement, connects, etc. It feels like the slightest thing to me, lol. That Nickelodeon game was much worse IMO, very floaty, etc.
 
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Mortal Kombat 11 (free on GamePass) is currently the most played fighter on XBL and it's ranked 49th.

The genre as a whole is just unpopular.
That game has been out for a long time, though. Speaking of which, we very well could see MK characters come to MultiVersus, as both are published by Warner Brothers. By the time the second reboot movie is releasing, I'll be shocked if one of the more popular Mortal Kombat fighters hasn't appeared in this game.
 

Reizo Ryuu

Member
It’s not out yet and Brawlhalla is also F2P.
Yes, how surprising that the low budget, basically mobile f2p 2D title isn't doing numbers like the licensed studio f2p title with countless of incredibly popular properties; whodathunk.

Did you even read the article ?
Did you? Well no, clearly you didn't, nor did you bother reading the thread either before replying, cause if you did you'd know the game is out for free for everyone that was in the closed alpha, everyone that got one of the 3 invites available to people in the closed alpha, and people who've watched an hour of twitch; you can get access for free right now like everyone else, but you decided to shitpost here instead.
 

ManaByte

Member
Did you? Well no, clearly you didn't, nor did you bother reading the thread either before replying, cause if you did you'd know the game is out for free for everyone that was in the closed alpha, everyone that got one of the 3 invites available to people in the closed alpha, and people who've watched an hour of twitch; you can get access for free right now like everyone else, but you decided to shitpost here instead.

You're the one who got majorly triggered at people playing this game for some reason.
 

Samrf89

Member
Yes, how surprising that the low budget, basically mobile f2p 2D title isn't doing numbers like the licensed studio f2p title with countless of incredibly popular properties; whodathunk.


Did you? Well no, clearly you didn't, nor did you bother reading the thread either before replying, cause if you did you'd know the game is out for free for everyone that was in the closed alpha, everyone that got one of the 3 invites available to people in the closed alpha, and people who've watched an hour of twitch; you can get access for free right now like everyone else, but you decided to shitpost here instead.
what's your deal bruh
 

ANDS

King of Gaslighting
Does WB own Adult Swim/Cartoon Network? Some of those characters are kind of surprising if not.

It's free and riding it's Twitch streamer wave etc, just like stuff like New World did. It'll die off in a few weeks.

Is it? There were ZERO free options when I last looked. It may eventually be free, but right now it absolutely isn't. 60K minus a couple thousand or so free key holders is pretty impressive for something that is known to be free eventually.
 
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