Remember MultiVersus? It’s been a hot minute, so we can’t blame you if you’ve moved on to other PS5 and Xbox fighting games since it was taken offline last year. However, now we’ve arrived at its promised early 2024 full release window, developer Player First Games appears to have spun the marketing machine up, evidenced by a new collaborative campaign with McDonald’s that’s putting the ‘combo’ in ‘combo meal’.
While the Europe-based promotion has yet to begin officially – we’ve only been able to glean from leaks so far – Twitter user ‘ausil’ has been busy collating ad spots, brand-new renders of the MultiVersus characters, and even snaps of Happy Meal packaging seemingly out in the wild. While some characters like Harley Quinn are dressed a little differently from how they’re portrayed in-game, it’s worth bearing in mind the audience for the campaign is skewed far younger than the average player. Hence, it’s more likely that they have been altered appropriately for it, as opposed to redesigned completely.
According to ‘MultiverSusie’, the collab includes collectible cards for each of the game’s 24 characters, while ausil notes that there will also be a “digital game”. For this aspect, fans will get to form “Awesome Duos” online by teaming up characters based on their specific strengths. In the showcased screenshots Superman is a ‘Hero’, Harley is ‘Sneaky’, and Batman is ‘Brains’. It seems like a pretty simple activation, but it will hopefully introduce plenty of younger players to MultiVersus’ leading cast.
Of course, a promotional campaign doesn’t innately indicate that MultiVersus will be returning to our consoles anytime soon. Most of these collaborations are locked in and developed months in advance – let’s not forget that Halo Infinite Monster campaign that went ahead after one of the best FPS games was heavily delayed. That being said, Player First’s Christmas message to fans did at least note that we’ll be hearing more “in the coming months.”
MultiVersus has had one of the most bizarre development cycles in recent memory. One of 2022’s breakout hits topped the list of best fighting games at The Game Awards that year before it was ceremoniously taken offline after spending several months in open beta. At the time Player First swore to bring it back bigger and better than ever for the full launch, though the move left a sour taste in the mouths of many – especially those climbing the MultiVersus ranks who’d forked out for Founders Packs. It’s certainly going to take more than a Big Mac to bring them back, but as MultiVersus enjoyers ourselves we hope that it can recreate some of the buzz it once had.
While we won’t quite be quarter-pounding our opponents in-game just yet, it’s heartening to see what was touted as potentially one of the best PS5 games and best Xbox games look to pick up steam once more. It’s going to be a long road for MultiVersus, though, considering the litany of exquisite, modern fighters currently out there such as Mortal Kombat 1, Street Fighter 6, and the upcoming Tekken 8 – more on that in our Tekken 8 preview. As such, Player First is going to have to bring some impressive updates and characters to the fore when its offering returns to the fighting game arena.