An Interview With MultiVersus Director Tony Huynh

During the recent closed alpha test, we sat down to talk about all things MultiVersus with the game’s director, Tony Huynh, from Player First Games. In this interview, we talk with Tony about what MultiVerus is, how it is to work with Warner Bros on the project, philosophies on its core combat designs and business models, and much more. 

Game Informer – What do you know about MultiVersus? What’s the quick pitch of it?

Tony Huynh:MultiVersus, a collaborative platform fighter. You can play it for free. The game has many of the obstacles removed so it is very easy to learn, as well as a smooth and gradual mastery. This game is a cooperative, team-based one. So from the ground up, everything about it is team-based, working with your ally, all the abilities and moves are based around team play as well as having a huge iconic character cast of really awesome characters. It was important that the characters behave in the manner you expect them to. We try to support every single input device, like keyboards and controllers. We have dedicated servers rollback netcode to make online play easy and free from all obstacles. MultiVersus can be described as a cooperative-focused social platform fighter. I believe everyone can take it up, play it, and then invest thousands of dollars in it, just like me. [laughs]

GI: This game has a special co-op emphasis. The game is 2v2 in nature. Talk about your decision to switch to 2v2 rather than focusing solely on free and solo for any modes that remain.

TH:While I won’t give you an exact answer, here is some history to help you understand why. I have a long history of being a big fighter-game player. By trade, I am a combat designer. It’s the reason why I became a combat designer, it’s because of these games. They have always been singles and 1v1 focused. Other than fighting games, I enjoy playing MOBAs as well as shooters and other genres. The reason I discovered why I didn’t play fighting games as often was that I enjoy playing with friends. Playing with friends can be a great and enjoyable experience. That’s why many of my online friends and most of my social network are made from people I meet playing games. These games are also extremely, very important to me. I’ve been able to change my life, changed my career and found a new career. It’s my goal that many players can experience it the same way I did growing up. Part of this is code, being able pick up other players and also having someone to play with and a common objective. That’s what I felt I had been missing and the reason I started playing with these other players. [games].

It is important to make sure we bring the genre to more people, as well as sharing that feeling of playing and working together, and that one can be of one mind. [was]It was clear to me what was lacking and it made sense for me to add that. This was not an easy choice. It was difficult because we were open to the idea. However, it has profound implications for everything. Each decision you make, every mechanic on characters and how they interact with each other, as well as all meta-systems and macro levels that affect them, along strategic gameplay around perks and how these effects allies, will have an impact on your ally. This concept is the basis of everything in the game. Steven isn’t only protecting himself but also his allies. Wonder Woman must pay close attention to her allies so that she can run to them. Then, protect and place herself properly. There’s a lot to be done in teamwork and team play. This fundamentally alters the way that gameplay works.

GI: Did you mention that your ideas came from other genres of games as well? Are you of the opinion that fighting games can learn from other games in order to increase their popularity and improve their playability?

TH:There are many lessons you can learn from all corners of the world. It depends on what the goals are, and our goals are: how do we remove barriers for the game, and how do we get as many players in playing as possible? My opinion is that [it’s]Understanding many ways of playing is essential for developers. You don’t want to make the same game again and again. Understanding multiple genres, understanding your preferences and being open to new possibilities is key. The best ideas are everywhere. Attention is needed. We should be careful. [shouldn’t]Just throw [something]Because it’s not been done before, this idea was born. What we found is a lot of players that aren’t in the fighting game community, or play platform fighters, really enjoy the game because it’s very easy to pick up. Another important aspect of is [MultiVersus]You can also play the game for free. If they stay, it is on us. It’s their decision if they like the game. We can’t expect them to stay if the game isn’t great. This is where we can really test if we are making the right game. Are we creating a game players will enjoy and want to continue playing? It’s also free so you can play it with many players. There’s cross-play as well. So, players can come on and they can play with their friends. We want to get rid of as many hurdles as possible.

It helps in many different ways. It is best to have a partner who is at least as skilled as you. It is important to have a large number of people able to participate in the game. You can be matchmade based on your skills, which will allow you to have an amazing experience as well as a gradual mastery. This is part of why we are able to do the things we have. Player First Games is more than just a place to do stuff. It is important that we are deliberate in our decisions about what we want to accomplish. This isn’t about any evil purpose. It’s based around, “we’re trying to achieve this goal.” We’re trying to provide this experience to as many players as possible and introduce his genre to as many people as possible. How do we achieve this? How can we make sure everyone has the best possible experience? WB is a great partner because they have a rich history, and their characters’ history. This allows us to reach more people and make a game they enjoy.

GIM: This game is completely free. However, there are some expectations people have about free-to-play gaming. MultiVersus – Are you trying to unlock all the features by using MultiVersus rather than spending money on them? It’s likely that there will be options to spend money to get cosmetics. Is there a monetization model? How do players interact with the game?

TH:Let me talk about our philosophy, which states that there is no pay-to-win here. You can’t earn any benefit, such as perks or perks by spending money on the game. Spending enough money on the game shouldn’t give you an advantage. That’s the overarching thing about the game. In my experience, I have found that people will spend money on games they love. That’s kind of the bottom line, and I think that our cosmetics are really awesome. You’d think they were, Ring out the effects. [in]They’re cool and worth the money. That’s my opinion. That’s the kind of model we use. Our goal is to provide a truly memorable experience for all players.

GI: We are currently in the Alpha and experiencing the battle pass as well as some other progressions. This game has a lot to offer! You can unlock your character’s level to get new unlocks. Are you looking at doing a seasonal structure for these Battle Passes, and what kind of content are we looking at if you do roll out content seasonally?

TH:Players should be surprised and delighted by us. That’s our number one goal as a developer, right? That’s why I believe that there will be both content drops and seasonal updates. [content]. The plan currently is to mix and match seasons with surprises. In terms of player satisfaction, I feel that the seasonal structure works well. We have the opportunity to make changes and check-ins, which allows us to tackle specific problems or ensure that the game’s health. Not only that, but we also release new content and maps as well as new characters, games modes, modes, and other features. That stuff will also be dropped periodically, I believe outside the season structure.

GI: Which characters would you like to see for the launch? In the current alpha build, we have 15 characters.

TH: 16 of them have been confirmed. Iron Giant [who]Also, the announcement was made that the beta will include open-source software.  Taz is the most recent addition. Velma also was playable at the last tech test. She’ll therefore be playable here. We need to ensure that each character adds value to the roster. Because of the IP approvals and dev resources, every roster spot is very important. It takes a lot of work to develop a character. Every character we add, there has to be an opportunity to make sure that, from the development side, we’re able to make a character that plays the way that you think it should play, but also pushes some envelope in the game as well. So, Iron Giant is going to be our first colossus-sized character; it’s going to be awesome. This is because we need to encourage creativity on both the development and dev sides. We also want to create characters like Velma that you might not expect to find a place in a fighting game. She’s certainly not a fighter, so it’s not as though she would not be very well-known if there was a poll. But from our development team, we just had the inspiration of, “what if we made a character that didn’t know physical attacks, she just used words of encouragement, and sass, and science, and solving mysteries, including gathering clues, to win. It was just a chance. We were like, “Okay, we have to do this.” So, we did it. There will be more characters. We will continue to add characters. [are] added. It is my goal to create a huge roster of characters. There are many to choose. Additionally, we are open to collaborating with the community to find out what their needs and incorporate that. However, the important point is how can we continue to surprise and delight players. There will always be more surprises than Velma. Our large roster doesn’t mean that everyone brings something. It is more important that we do something different. I’d rather have a uniquely playing roster that fills a lot of different ways to play the game than having a really large roster. We’re still going to work hard to create a large roster that can play very differently and challenge the boundaries with each character.

GI: What has the experience been with Warner Brothers? Are they open to you expressing your thoughts on how certain properties could be used? Did they have any properties that were more difficult to access than you anticipated?

TH:This is something I believe I can do at a very high level. However, at such a high level it has been quite a dream. This was our first venture. We looked at partners as well how to realize the vision. Warner’s resources are a huge factor in this. They have a great team that supports us with everything, not just characters. The result has been incredible. It’s been best case scenario. I was like, “this is the best case scenario,” and it’s been way better than that. The general thing is, we come up with the ideas, and we go, “Can we do this?” And the answer is very often just, “Yes.” There [are]There are IP approvals for each character and IP holders. However, it’s gone very smoothly. It was surprisingly effortless. We couldn’t be happier with our partner. It has been truly amazing.

GI: Are you planning to play larger games than just the two-versus-two or four player matches? Is there anything technical with the rollback netcode?

TH: The way that we’ve done things, we’ve gone on a very different route which is server based, dedicated, on rollback netcode, which is not usually done, because it’s very expensive. Our approach is to provide the best possible experience for our players. This approach we found to be the most effective. This also allows us to be flexible in our team size and other aspects. While there are challenges associated with changing numbers such as 3v3 or 4, I feel they are easily overcome because of the way we set up things to make it possible. Just invest the time and effort to make the content, figure out the best way to present it and ensure that players have a good experience. There will also be many new modes. Some surprises are also possible, I promise.

GI. Speaking of Modes, Do you plan to create a Story Mode since all the brands are being mash-up?

TH:You will find content you enjoy. We must remember that everything needs to be co-op. There will soon be other modes that are more competitive. That’s probably the best way I can put it. There are many resources required to create any story mode. We need to ensure that the core game works well. Even now, the game is still in alpha. This is an experiment, not a final product. You can find it here. [are] bugs. We’re still refining and making sure the balance is right. While we need to be focused on the most important things, then we can move onto the next. However, I fully understand why players want a story mode. Our game has a lot to offer. All it takes is getting there. [MultiVersus]out to the players and doing work. That would be great.

GI: I noticed some items drop from characters that are more casual. Do you know of any additional spawnable objects that can be found in casual playstyles?

TH: In Free-For-All Mode, right now, there are spawnable items. The items will randomly be spawned in free-for all. There is a safe at the beginning of each map that can be accessed by players to punch in at one another. The map will shrink over time in Free-For All, too. There are many rules depending on the game mode. We have tons of amazing items in the pipeline, which will be constantly updated. This is part of what makes this so exciting and delightful. We can keep creating them and putting them out regularly. Players have new items to enjoy and look forward to. The strategy includes putting out many different items and setting the foundation for all of them. Our open beta aims to provide the foundation for all things so everyone can envision where they could go and, eventually, realize it.

MultiVersus is not currently available for release. If you’re looking to get your hands on the cross-play and cross-progression platform fighter, an open beta is planned to begin in July on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.