MultiVersus season 1 release date announced, along with Morty’s debut

MultiVersus’ season 1 begins Aug. 15 and Morty (of Rick and Morty) joins the roster of Warner Bros.’ ensemble Smash-like fighting game on Aug. 23, according to the game’s official Twitter account.

It ends up being a delay of about a week; originally Player First Games planned to roll out the first season on Aug. 9, but walked that back last week, saying the game needed more seasoning and polish. MultiVersus, which stars Warner Bros. characters like Batman, Bugs Bunny, and Scooby-Doo’s pal Shaggy, has been in an open beta since July 26 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

The free-to-play game currently has a roster of 17 characters, which can be unlocked with in-game currency earned by playing, or a premium currency sold in the free-to-play game’s marketplace. A datamine leak back in March said characters like Harry Potter, Fred Flintstone, and even Gizmo from 1984’s Gremlins would eventually join the game. Those characters are not confirmed.

Morty was supposed to join the game with season 1’s tip-off, and Rick sometime thereafter. Season 1 will also add a “classic arcade mode,” which appears to be a PvE round-robin against AI foes, and a ranked multiplayer leaderboard sometime after Aug. 15. The MultiVersus Twitter account advised players that “everything we are bringing to you in Season 1 will not drop on the same day,” and so they should stay tuned for additional release date announcements.