MultiVersus is popular as ever after hiatus, with more than 100,000 concurrent players at relaunch

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, or so the saying goes, and it appears that's true of the universe-melding platform fighter MultiVersus.

MultiVersus is well and truly back, and despite only being relaunched for a matter of hours, the numbers suggest that Warner Bros. Games' quirky Smash Bros. alternative is still as popular as it ever has been.

MultiVersus pummels it's way up the Steam Charts

After going dark for almost a year, MultiVersus has hit a 24-hour peak on SteamDB of 114,515 players. That's a little way off its initial 2022 "Open Beta" peak of 153,433, but still very impressive.

With MultiVersus also available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, there's a good chance that number is considerably higher, suggesting WB's ambitious relaunch has worked out for the better.

Amid new seasonal content being added, it'll be interesting if the game maintains a strong player base. WB's other big launch this year, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, also follows a live service model, but currently has a 372-player 24-hour peak and an all-time peak of 13,459 at launch (according to SteamDB) - although it wasn't a free-to-play title.

The curious case of MultiVersus

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MultiVersus, even in its open beta form, was pretty well received. Players could even spend money on characters, cosmetics, and a battle pass, leading to some disappointment when it shut down in June of 2023.

In the time since then, developer Player First Games ported the game to a new engine and added in the likes of The Joker, Jason Vorhees, Adventure Time's Banana Guard and Agent Smith from The Matrix (he's coming soon) as characters for its first 'proper' season - as well as a full single-player Rifts mode.

As I said in my preview earlier this month, "While it's still a shame MultiVersus had to go away for so long, I am thrilled to have it back."