Despite being mere weeks away from launch, MultiVersus still has an uphill battle ahead of it. When MultiVersus' Beta first dropped back in July 2022, it managed to garner quite the fanbase, and through good word-of-mouth, the game's reputation grew like wildfire. Some good combat mechanics, a unique 2v2 focus, and a vast roster of iconic characters from across Warner Bros.' collection of IP helped to set MultiVersus apart from its tough competition. But unfortunately, it didn't take long for that initial hype to wear off.

With some controversial monetization practices and a lack of new content in its first few months, MultiVersus saw a steep decline in its playerbase, an issue that only grew worse with time. According to SteamDB, MultiVersus' Steam player count dropped from a peak of just over 153,000 during its initial launch, to just 500 players in the Beta's final days. It's going to be hard for MultiVersus to win players back around before its re-launch at the end of the month and, though developer Player First is clearly trying its best to do just that, its first new character reveal could have gone better.

MultiVersus Joker Back
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Why MultiVersus' Character Releases Need to Pick Up Right Where They Left Off

One of the biggest strengths of MultiVersus' Beta was its consistent stream of new character releases, and that's something that should pick right up.

MultiVersus Is In Danger of Repeating a Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Mistake

Suicide Squad Relied Too Heavily on The Joker

On its tenuous lead-up to launch, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League confirmed that each of its post-launch seasons would include one new playable character. While many fans still weren't keen on the idea of Rocksteady's next title being a live-service game, the idea of getting to play as a new DC villain every few months was quite exciting, especially when early leaks of the game's DLC hinted that iconic characters like Killer Croc, Deathstroke, and Killer Frost could all be coming to the game.

However, much like the rest of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, once players found out more about these post-launch characters, disappointment quickly set in. Rocksteady confirmed that an Elseworld version of the Joker would be the first DLC villain to come to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and this addition made complete sense as the Joker is a beloved character and one of the most iconic villains of all time. But there were two big issues with this decision.

The first major issue with Suicide Squad's Joker was that this version of the character simply wasn't to everyone's taste, with the initial reveal trailer leaning a little too much into Joker's quirky, unpredictable side, and delivering a visual design that underwhelmed. The second big issue was that fans have already been exposed to the Joker countless times over the last few years, appearing in multiple live-action movies, playing a prominent role already in the Arkham universe even after death, and being present in a ton of other DC projects across TV and video games.

With an Elseworlds premise paving the way for limitless creativity, it felt pretty disappointing for Suicide Squad 's first DLC character to just be another standard version of Joker.

MultiVersus' Joker is a Double-Edged Sword

Unfortunately, MultiVersus might be repeating Suicide Squad's mistake. Before its re-launch at the end of May, MultiVersus has confirmed that a few new fighters will be joining the roster, and the first one unveiled is none other than the Clown Prince of Crime. On one hand, Joker will likely be another great addition to the MultiVersus roster, especially with Mark Hamill returning to voice the iconic villain once again.

But on the other hand, if fans weren't oversaturated by Joker before Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, then they certainly are now, and no matter how fun he is to control or how great it is to hear Mark Hamill's acting talent again, there's no denying that the mystique surrounding Joker has well and truly worn off.