Is an engine change really worth a slower, grumpier game with fewer options?

The strange story of MultiVersus continues. The game was oddly enough to begin with: a free-to-play Smash Bros.-inspired fighter with the multiple intellectual property rights of Warner Bros. The Discovery company, where Looney Tunes icons can battle DC heroes and characters from the likes of Adventure Time and Game of Thrones — there's even LeBron James.

A successful open beta launched in 2022, but in June 2023 it was taken offline for almost a full year for a full revamp – an unprecedented step for a live service game that seemed disproportionate to the work it needed. Now it's back, and fans are baffled, to say the least, at how much it's changed.

Some changes are a matter of taste. Many players on the MultiVersus subreddit and elsewhere say that the game has slowed down dramatically – which is also Polygon's impression from a quick playtest – and while this change is unpopular with many, not everyone agrees.