MultiVersusis in a somewhat dry season right now. The Warner Bros. platform fighter is still not technically out, even though it has spent over half a year in open beta. It already has battle passes available, and is slowly building its roster while tweaking game balance. According to developer statements, there are some big things planned forMultiVersusin the future, but there’s no telling when they or the game’s true release date will arrive.
Nobody knows what exactly is coming forMultiVersus, but something needs to arrive soon before the title’s momentum is drained. The expected fighting game post-release drop in players hitMultiVersusfairly hard, and judging by Steam numbers it’s doing alright but not as well as it could be.MultiVersusneeds more features and fixesto bring people back in, and adapting more parts of its inspirationSuper Smash Bros.could help. In particular, a Stage Builder may work well in the context of this free-to-play platform fighter.
RELATED:Why MultiVersus Should Probably Slow Down the Character Additions
The Stage Builder Has Been A Major Part of Super Smash Bros.’s Appeal
Stage Builder had its humble roots inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl, serving as a side mode that allowed players to create their own simple stages. Right from the get-go, players had a wide variety of platform types and special objects that they could place in three different size templates. While these stages were visually plain, they contributed toSuper Smash Bros. Brawl’s inherent replay value. Sharing these stages online was also possible, but became somewhat easier in later entries.
Super Smash Bros.for Wii U brought the feature back, and while some of the special objects were lost, the trade-off was worth it. Players could now use the touch screen to draw their own platforms, enabling near-infinite creativity. It took a few updates forSuper Smash Bros. Ultimateto get its own Stage Builder, but when it did, it offered multiple layers for placement and drawing and then allowed players to make their platforms out of many different materials. Stage Builder has turned out to be a massive success for theSmashfranchise, and other platform fighters would be wise to learn from this.
MultiVersus Is An Ideal Setting For A Stage Builder
A couple already have, with those beingRivals of Aethervia Steam Workshop support andFraymakersthrough its FrayTools.MultiVersuswould get a boost in player attention and retention if it adds the ability to build and share stages. There has been some early tension betweenMultiVersusmod fansand the game’s security measures, so adding an in-game way for players to make their own content would help smooth things over. Designing for the controllers of most gaming systems might leaveMultiVersus' Stage Builder less versatile than that ofSmash Ultimate, but plenty can still be done by mimickingBrawlor theSuper Mario Makertitles.
Speaking of doing something similar toBrawl,MultiVersuscan also bring back one unique trait that the game’s Stage Builder had. A few items would require players to play a handful of matches on custom stages or make several stages to unlock. Ideally, any Stage Builder progression inMultiVersusshould be framed like this. Tying stage parts into battle passes or anything else would be asking for trouble. Adding the base form of a modular-but-still-flexible feature like Stage Builder could also giveMultiVersus' developers time for bigger modesand content drops. Hopefully, something like a Stage Builder is in the cards forMultiVersusand can help make the game even better for all types of players.
MultiVersusis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
