The recently released fighting game MultiVersus has taken gaming discourse by storm, with swathes of fans enjoying the fast-paced and competitive gameplay featuring an array of beloved Warner Bros. characters. Its free-to-play open beta has proven to be a hit, so the title is now looking to move on to the next stage of its life cycle.
This next stage recently came in the form of Season One for MultiVersus, which launched on August 15. With this Season set to introduce additional content to the title over time, the fact that it launched without a dedicated ranked play mode could prove to be a big mistake.
Season One of MultiVersus
As is to be expected of a free-to-play multiplayer title, MultiVersus will break down its gameplay cycle into multiple seasons, each accompanied by a brand-new Battle Pass filled with special cosmetics in the forms of skins and stickers that players can use. The Battle Pass for MultiVersus is made up of two paths, one paid for and one free, to expand the accessibility of rewards across the player base, although the paid path understandably has more attractive benefits.
In addition to the Battle Pass, Season One is bringing fresh characters to MultiVersus, with the dimension-travelling sci-fi duo of Rick and Morty both coming to the game as individual playable characters later on in the Season. With more characters expected to be announced in the near future, Season One is additionally bolstered by the announcement that a dedicated ranked mode will be coming to MultiVersus at some point later at a later date. While this is of course good news to many fans, the fact that ranked will not be available to play from the outset of Season One could have some negative implications.
The Importance of Ranked Play in MultiVersus
Fighting games are understandably defined by the players' ability to test their skills in competitive play against one another. In the form of tournaments and competitions, a desire to identify which talented subset of players reigns supreme over a fighting game began almost immediately as the genre was established.
Built-in ranking and competition are increasingly normal feautres of the video game landscape, so it can be said that a dedicated ranked playlist for a fighting game is an absolute necessity. Although the introduction of a ranked mode has been heavily showcased alongside the other benefits of MultiVersus' Season One, the fact that it is not a part of the Season's launch sets a bad precedent for the overall treatment of the mode.
MultiVersus does currently give players an empirical indication as to their skill level in the form of an MMR score, which essentially acts in the same way an ELO score does. However, with this having no real current bearing on the title's matchmaking system, the need for a dedicated ranked queue remains.
With fans having to wait even longer for a ranked mode, more and more casual players will be dissuaded from playing the game as matchmaking remains dominated by competitive players who have nowhere else to play. Adversely, a longer wait for ranked may additionally see more competitive players put the game down, having missed the initial hype of MultiVersus Season One due to the lack of a ranked mode during its launch. While it is welcome news that a ranked mode will eventually be added, the long wait before it is implemented appears to be a big mistake, given the need for such a mode in a game like MultiVersus.
MultiVersus is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
