The game director of MultiVersus, Tony Huynh, has publicly addressed the "threats to harm" that developers have received following the announcement of the game's impending shutdown. Last week, Player First Games announced that Season 5 of the Warner Bros. brawler would be the last, with servers set to go offline in May, just a year after its relaunch. Players can still access their earned and purchased content offline via local gameplay and training modes.

Despite the cessation of real-money transactions, players can continue using Gleamium and character tokens to access in-game content until support ends on May 30. At that time, MultiVersus will be delisted from the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Steam, and Epic Games Store.

The announcement, coupled with the lack of a refund policy, has led to backlash from players, particularly those who purchased the $100 premium Founder's Pack. Many feel "scammed," and there are reports of players with unused character tokens, now useless as all characters have been unlocked. The game is also facing review bombing on Steam.

In response, Tony Huynh, co-founder of Player First Games and game director of MultiVersus, took to Twitter to express his gratitude to the team, IP holders, and players, while also addressing the threats of violence. Here is his full statement:

Hey all, I wanted to say a few words as I reflect on the recently announced news about MultiVersus. While I'm sad about the outcome, I will forever be grateful for the opportunity given to us by WarnerBros. Games and to each and every developer on the Player First Games and WB Games teams. Also to every IP holder thank you for entrusting us with your babies, we hope we made the characters true to themselves and felt authentic to your fans. I couldn’t be prouder of the work the PFG team did. Their endless creativity and passion never ceased to inspire and amaze me. And of course I wanted to thank every player who has ever played or supported MultiVersus. Delighting and serving players is Player First Games objective.

I apologize for not addressing things sooner, there’s been a lot going on and I’ve been focused on the game and the team, but now more-so the team.

Thank you for sending us all the great fan art, character ideas, and personal stories. They were the highlight of every day and always excited the team.

I’m sorry if we couldn’t get to your favorite character. I do think Aquaman and Lola are really cool and I hope you all check them out. Character selection comes down to bunch of things including development time, listening to what the community wants, working with IP holders and approvals, if there is a cross-marketing opportunity available to support, and of course if the team is inspired to make the character. So a lot goes into to it.

For instance BananaGuard came about because the team was enthusiastic about making it and on their own produced it over the weekend as a fun, quick-to-make character. When inspiration and enthusiasm spark we want to reward that and we got BananaGuard because of that. It wasn’t at the expense of another character. It was because the team was excited about making the character.

I don’t have the power some you think I do. PFG is a highly collaborative team and ideas are encouraged and can come from anyone and we promote delivering value to players

I also hope that the community notices that we try to listen and act. Like any developer we’re limited by time and resources.

I know that this is painful for everyone, and I know every member of PFG feels it too, but I have to call this out, you’re entitled to what you say and think, but when there are threats to harm it’s crossing the line. I hope that you can take a step back and realize that this is an extremely sad time for the team. I am in deep mourning for the game. Nobody wanted this outcome and it wasn’t from lack of caring or effort.

I sincerely hope that Season 5 is enjoyed with the time we have left and that you will all continue supporting other platform fighter and fighting games as these games have impacted me in many positive ways. I’ve made so many friends and created so many great memories because of these games, and a big reason why we worked so hard at PFG was to share that with you. I hope that we played a small part and that you can look back on MVS and find some joy in the friends you made and the memories you shared.

Thank you for allowing this dream to become a reality even if for a briefer time than we would have wanted. I don’t know what the future holds for any of all of us, but I just wanted to say thank you. It has been an honor to work alongside the team at PFG to serve our community and players.

Player First Games community manager and game developer Angelo Rodriguez Jr. also defended Huynh on X/Twitter, emphasizing that receiving threats of physical harm is unacceptable. Rodriguez highlighted Huynh's dedication and the team's efforts to improve the game, urging the community to consider Huynh's perspective.

MultiVersus' shutdown adds to Warner Bros. Games' recent struggles, following the poor reception of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The departure of Warner Bros. Games boss David Haddad was announced last month after a challenging year. Warner Bros. Discovery reported that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's failure cost the company $200 million, with MultiVersus adding another $100 million to the financial hit. The only new game release from Warner Bros. Games in the third quarter of 2024, Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, failed to make a significant impact.

In a financial call, Warner Bros. Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav acknowledged the underperformance of the games business. Post-launch content for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has concluded, and while Warner Bros. has not announced Rocksteady's next project, the studio is reportedly working on a director's cut of Hogwarts Legacy amidst recent layoffs.

There are also concerns about Mortal Kombat 1's financial performance, though NetherRealm chief Ed Boon reported over five million sales and teased future DLC. Zaslav stated that Warner Bros. is focusing on four key franchises: Hogwarts Legacy (with a sequel in development), Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC, particularly Batman. Recent releases include the VR game Batman: Arkham Shadow on the Meta Quest 3, and a Wonder Woman game is in development at Monolith Productions.