Naturally, audience demand for a particular character is also a major consideration, White said. “What does the game need in its next character? Is there a particular thematic that’s missing that we need to balance things out? Is there a particular character mechanic ? Do we need more assassins? Do we need more bruisers? So we’re looking at how does this fit into our overall ecosystem, and make sure we’re choosing characters that complement the game the best.” “We start looking at a couple of different angles,” he said. White said there are many factors to consider when evaluating new fighters. Others include Garnet and Steven from Steven Universe, Finn and Jake from Adventure Time, DC superheroes Superman and Wonder Woman, and even an original character, Reindog. Of course, Shaggy is just one of 16 characters confirmed for MultiVersus’ roster so far. We want to embrace that.” Image: Player First Games/Warner Bros. This is something that the community wants, and we’re not here to say that we’re above that. Everybody was very quickly excited and on board. The community would love it.’ And there was no pushback at all on that. “We just kind of said, like, ‘We think we should do this. “From our minds, there was almost no convincing at all needed to happen,” White said. While that didn’t come to pass, Shaggy did make a memorable cameo in an animated MK movie, Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms. and Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm Studios to put Ultra Instinct Shaggy in Mortal Kombat 11. More than 380,000 petitioners later lobbied Warner Bros.
White noted the origins of Ultra Instinct Shaggy, which derived from the 2011 animated movie Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur, in which Shaggy single-handedly beats up a biker gang, and when Dragon Ball’s Goku first reached Ultra Instinct form in the Dragon Ball Super anime. It was very community driven - to see Shaggy in a fighting game.” “In very early discussions of what characters we’d want to bring to the table, we were looking at a petition that had just a crazy number of signatures on it. “That was one of the very first decisions that we made, even when the game was in very early concept phase,” White said. But Shaggy, specifically the heavily memed “Ultra Instinct” version of the Scooby-Doo slacker, was an obvious and early choice for MultiVersus, its creators say.Ĭhris White, chief technical officer and co-founder at developer Player First Games, told Polygon that Shaggy’s inclusion in MultiVersus, specifically his Dragon Ball-inspired form, was always part of the plan. has a long list of potential fighters to choose from. “MultiVersus” is the first game developed by L.A.-based studio Player First Games. Tony Huynh, co-founder and game director of Player First Games, said the title has been built from the ground up to be “a cooperative, social game that embraces teamwork and strategy.” He added that the studio also is focused on providing “first-class online gameplay” through dedicated server-based rollback netcode.Warner Bros.’ take on the platform fighter - a Super Smash Bros.-like game starring Batman, Bugs Bunny, Arya Stark, et al. “MultiVersus” will also include one-on-one clashes and a four-player free-for-all mode where only one fighter can come out on top. The game’s multiplayer bouts can be set against the backdrop of various reimagined environments, including Batman’s Batcave and Jake and Finn’s Tree Fort. For example, Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth attack will be paired with Shaggy and his sandwich projectile - while Arya Stark’s face-swapping ability will complement Superman’s laser vision. In the game, every fighter will be outfitted with a set of combat mechanics, including customizable movesets that combine dynamically with other characters in the battles.
“And this is just the beginning, as we are excited to support upcoming seasons and ongoing game content.” “With ‘MultiVersus’ we are creating a distinct competitive game that allows us to combine a deep roster of celebrated WarnerMedia franchises for gamers to enjoy,” said David Haddad, president of Warner Bros.
the Fatal Five, Injustice 2) as Superman, Abby Trott (Carmen Sandiego) as Wonder Woman, Tara Strong (Batman Ninja, Batman: Arkham series) as Harley Quinn, Matthew Lillard (Scooby-Doo) as Shaggy, Eric Bauza (Looney Tunes Cartoons) as Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry, Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) as Arya Stark, John DiMaggio (Adventure Time) as Jake the Dog, Jeremy Shada (Adventure Time) as Finn the Human, Daniel DiVenere (Spirit Riding Free) as Steven Universe, Estelle (Steven Universe) as Garnet and Andrew Frankel (Jellystone) as Reindog. The game will feature an all-star cast of talent lending their voices to the game, including Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series, Batman: Arkham series) as Batman, George Newbern (Justice League vs.