The hit, new free-to-play Warner Bros. arena-fighter MultiVersus has enjoyed a robust modding scene since the game was still in its early access beta. This week, though, that community is on life support as players and developers report the game will no longer run with any modification installed.
Users on mod distribution site Game Banana started noticing the change around noon on Wednesday, with some discussing potential workarounds that might let their mods still work. By that afternoon, though, modder Ghost suggested on Twitter that “MultiVersus will no longer boot up if you have mods installed. They killed modding of any kind.”
The move was seemingly confirmed by MultiVersus Game Director Tony Huynh, who tweeted overnight that a user-reported game-crashing issue “might be because your client has been modded. If so you’ll need to remove the mods to play.”
In the few weeks since MultiVersus‘ public launch, modders have crafted hundreds of reskins that make existing characters look like other pop-culture mainstays, from Lola Bunny and Luigi to Master Chief and Jesus Christ. Other mods could replace background art or music, add new visual effects to characters, or, uh, put duct tape over Velma’s mouth, if that’s what you’re into. These cosmetic mods only applied to a player’s local copy of the game and didn’t impact the integrity of online gameplay.
Buy some DLC instead?
This isn’t the first time Warner Bros. has made moves against MultiVersus modding. The publisher reportedly started issuing copyright strikes against Twitch streamers using modded characters in their videos earlier this month. At the time, Huynh confirmed in a tweet that “streaming with a modded client” was grounds for a DMCA copyright strike against at least one streamer.
While Warner Bros. hasn’t responded to a request for comment from Ars Technica, some players suspect the crackdown on mods could be an attempt to stifle competition for official MultiVersus DLC. The free-to-play game brings in revenue primarily by selling Season Pass content subscriptions that include new “variant” costumes and looks for many characters. Warner Bros. also sells separate DLC packs that include “unlock tickets” for upcoming characters like Rick & Morty and Black Adam.
Warner Bros. might worry that players will be less likely to buy this kind of content if similar (or near-identical) cosmetic content is available as free mods. But games like Crusader Kings II have managed to thrive with both paid DLC content and a wide range of free user-made mods, showing it’s not impossible for both types of content to coexist without ruining a free-to-play business model.
While modders haven’t given up on finding ways around MultiVersus‘ apparent new mod ban, Warner Bros. will likely keep squashing any new modification methods as well. When it comes to this version of the metaverse, apparently only officially recognized characters need apply.
