MultiVersus, the ill-fated crossover fighter, is shutting down after its fifth major update. It is, of course, sad news for fans, especially those who invested a significant amount of time and money on unlocking its relatively large roster of characters. It is also a further sign that one of gaming's worst trends is reaching boiling point, putting a grievance that players have had with the online gaming scene in the forefront once again.

MultiVersus' controversial shutdown marks a continued effort to simultaneously move games into a more shared online space while also removing ownership of said games from players. It has, perhaps more than the doomed Concord, struck a nerve with players thanks to its freemium model and seemingly huge backing from Warner Bros., thus highlighting this ever-growing and increasingly relevant problem once more.

MultiVersus' Shutdown Is A Bad Sign For Online Gaming

It Continues A Growing And Unfortunate Trend

Online gaming has always been in an unpredictable and rocky place, with monolithic titles like Fortnite and GTA Online dominating the space, while dozens, if not hundreds of others flounder beneath them, struggling to muster a big enough audience to offset their server and development costs. Online games can be extremely lucrative, but only if they find the right audience, and the string of failed live service games is a testament to just how challenging that can be, even with a popular IP behind it, including DC Comics.

MultiVersus having failed is a sure sign that online gaming is in its most volatile state, especially as it is a game with both the backing of Warner Bros. and its catalog of legacy franchises as well as the gameplay mechanics of Nintendo's incredibly popular and rarely well-replicated Super Smash Bros. series. It should have been a surefire hit for Warner Bros., and yet it managed to, alongside the company's other maligned live service, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, fail completely.

This is alongside several other recent failed live service games like Concord, XDefiant, and Foamstars, as well as Sony canceling more online titles, including a live service God of War game. However, MultiVersus isn't just a small fish in a big pond, but rather the game at the precipice of what is surely a crumbling industry. Fans of live service games can no longer rely on them to succeed and stick around and when games with such huge odds for success fail, it brings into question the plethora of others that are prepared to launch in the coming years.

Why Servers Shutting Down Are Bad For Games That Still Have Offline Modes

It Removes Progression And Makes It Hard To Keep Them

Of course, many will point to the fact that MultiVersus has an offline mode that will stick around long after the servers shut down, something that is becoming increasingly prevalent. It ensures that people who invested money in MultiVersus and are not being given refunds at least still have a way of accessing their content. However, this comes with a lot of compromises that fans won't love. Players will only keep the content they've unlocked in the offline mode, and won't be given access to everything, like in previous canceled live service titles such as Marvel's Avengers.

Additionally, in order to access the offline mode, players need to install the latest update before May 30, 2025, and then to create local save data on that platform. Then, they can't even uninstall the game as they won't be able to reinstall it, nor can they play it on another platform as the offline mode is tethered to their local save. MultiVersus' approach to its offline mode post the shutdown is certainly an exception and not the rule.

However, once servers shut down for any online game, it is entirely up to the developers' discretion whether to include an offline mode in the first place. The Crew is completely unplayable as it never received a dedicated offline mode. Even if live service games include an offline mode to sustain them once they're shut down, the developers may not give players access to everything, and, more often than not, there's nothing to progress towards, as progression is completely removed due to the absence of the online component.

Gaming Shutdowns Don't Bode Well For People Who Want To Own Their Games

It Is Evidence That People Don't Own Digital Products

Naturally, this all brings into question whether players even own the games that they pay hard-earned money for. Previously, live service games with some form of offline component were still accessible thanks to physical copies, such as Evolve and the aforementioned Marvel's Avengers. However, that isn't even the case, as owning a physical copy of a game no longer grants players guaranteed access to it, as seen when Concord was shut down.

Infamously, as reported by threatening the MultiVersus developers in anger and retaliation.

In an increasingly digital age, it isn't surprising that physical media is quickly becoming archaic. However, while its absence certainly gives players more room in their homes, and reduces the amount of plastic in the world, it also means that people have less and less tangible media that they can confidently state they own. Online games like MultiVersus are evidence of the start of this decline in ownership of the media people consume and a foreboding omen that no media, regardless of whether it is dependent on servers or not, is safe.

Source: MultiVersus/YouTube, gamingindustry.biz