MultiVersus shows why Microsoft needs to establish a dedicated fighting game studio asap

I’ve been thinking more and more about an Xbox fighting game after seeing the MultiVersus game. An Xbox fighting game would be huge and would also help with cross promotion of Xbox IPs. Imagine new fighters getting regularly added to the roster to help promote new Xbox games in addition to the huge potential from legacy franchises. It could be supported throughout generations similar to something like Sea of Thieves, and could have a massive roster and stage collection by the end of its life. Just thinking about stages from Doom, Ghostwire Tokyo, Halo, Elder Scrolls, Psychonauts, Banjo, Ori, Avowed, Starfield etc the opportunities are endless and that’s even before we get into ABK franchises. Add in enemy bosses that can alter maps like Ruvik from Evil Within and Locusts from Gears of War, etc. I just hope Microsoft starts building the foundations for a game like this and it all starts with having a dedicated fighting game studio.

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They need proper mechanics first and foremost and not be a crappy game with bunch of characters. Needs to have depth and be fun to play. Not sure how you do thst with some of the potential roster

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I definitely would be down for this and have the team alternate between Xbox Superstars and Killer Instinct.

I’d like to know how a car and an airplane are to be fighters in a game, do they turn into mechs?

I’m disappointed to not see Commander Keen or Kameo or even a generic creature from Shadowrun, but a car and airplane make the list.

In all seriousness I know that is just mockup and I really hope MS will bring out a game that utilizes their IPs in a fighting game.

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I’m still of the belief that Microsoft doesn’t have the recognizable characters/IP to support a game like this.

I like that Multiversus is providing a cross platform alternative.

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Is the game fun though? I saw some footage and…I dont know. Probably something I need to play for myself.

Hmm. I have a thought which may upset a lot of people who are giant fanboys or Halo apologists.

I feel sometimes Xbox are a bit behind the curb with some games and yes, I’m going to use Halo as an example. When Halo first came out - it was ahead of the curb and bought lots of new things to the table.

As time went on, the landscape for FPS games changed thanks to games like Arma, Dayz, etc. Fortnite was the straw that broke the camels back as it were. Soon after, almost EVERY FPS game had a BR mode - CoD, Alex, Battlefront, etc.

So, when Halo finally came out again, it was a huge surprise to see them emit such a standardised FPS game mode. I feel this is why not many people play it(Judging by steam player numbers and Twitch).

Now, I’d love Xbox to do what Multiverse is planning to do, and I feel there is a Gigantic marketplace for it right now, and could have yearly Gamepass updates to keep it relevant, but I don’t see them doing it. id love to be proven wrong, though as this would be amazing!

I don’t think Halo is a great example since it’s getting a “BR” post launch and it had such a trouble development. But yeah, 343 had been pretty adamant about not chasing trends.

I am not sure I am ready to consider Smash Brother clones a trend though, since nobody has been able to come close to Nintendo’s success. I think people underestimate the importance of the IP involved when it comes to these character mash up games. There is a reason nobody can touch Smash Brothers and Mario Kart.

I feel bad in a way because when I picture Nintendo I see vast amounts of amazing, varied characters. When I think of PlayStation I can kinda leave together a decent row of characters, but when I picture Xbox, damn. It’s weird. I can picture old PS characters and a few Xbox characters. Spyro, Crash, Banjo, Conker

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You can tell by looking at the lineup in the image how far people have to mentally stretch to make this possible for Xbox.

It’s bad for Playstation too. They already tried this and failed lol. I think it’s the combination of too many ‘realistic’ IP, too many games where you build your own character, and characters that aren’t easily recognizable.

Nintendo has legit theme parks for their IP. WB/DC is in a great place because they have a ton of major IP also. But I don’t think any other game company can pull this off with their IP.

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Crossover games are tough sell in the industry unless your characters are very brandable to anyone or came from other sucessful fighting games. Smash Bros represents not only the biggest example, but its sales are a big slice of the whole fighting genre each generation, next you have King of Fighters which honestly has replaced Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury quickly to the point that most people think that some of the characters came from that franchise. The only new game to actually achieve some good success is Brawhalla.

Honestly, outside of Master Chief you have… Marcus Fenix? And that’s because Halo is the most important launch title in the industry for setting a new franchise in a then newcomer brand getting such acclaim, not even Sony achieved this and they tried their own Smash bros with Playstation all Stars which wasn’t well received and became a butt joke.

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That is hilarious and it also in a way proved my point, because the car lost.

That being said I now want to see a car in a Xbox fighter.

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PlayStation failed because PlayStation all stars sucked in terms of gameplay and Sony failed to secure a compelling roster of characters even characters associated with them didn’t make the cut. The game that MS could create here would be able to evolve with Game Pass they just need to find or make the correct studio.

They will get Arc System Works to create an Xbox fighting game in an anime style /s

Yeah they definitely need to do it right but I see a lot of potential especially with how many well known characters they have even Blizzard alone could create a fighter based on their IPs.

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But Microsoft will also fail to secure a compelling roster of characters.

I don’t know about that as I said even Blizzard has enough on its own to make a fighter.

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3/4 of the games roster going to be from Overwatch?

There’s Warcraft, Diablo and Starcraft as well.

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I will take your word for it, I don’t play a ton of PC games.

I personally don’t feel like games with multiple main characters/classes ever really result in characters with the strong identity you’d want from marquee characters in a ‘mascot’ game.

I personally think Xbox shouldn’t be chasing trends like this BUT if they do a brawl fighter it should be 8 players.

The Xbox has a feature that’s underutilized and under recognized: 8 player local support.

I think a kid-friendly paintball third person shooter by The Coalition could be great for a cross-IP game. Or a 3D brawl fighter from Ninja Theory, where you have to knock others off a platform but from a 3rd person perspective.

Its amazing, yes. Its up there with Smash Bros.