Warner Bros. brawler MultiVersus targets its open beta for July 26th

Multiplayer free-to-play brawler MultiVersus is barreling into open beta on July 26th, with an early access period beginning July 15th for those who played the closed alpha. Warner Bros. Interactive confirmed that progression and unlocks earned in the beta will carry forward when the game launches, so that’s nice. Marvel, not DC, at Norville ‘Shaggy’ Rogers implausibly battling the Man Of Steel in the trailer below.

Maybe that green shirt is made of Kryptonite? Anyway, Warner say that participation in the closed alpha isn’t the only way you can nab early access to MultiVersus. There’ll also be Twitch Drops so you can spend that extra week trying to make the world’s oddest pairings. Finn from Adventure Time and Arya Stark from Game Of Thrones maybe. Or Superman and the Iron Giant? controversial. You can read the full open beta FAQ hereand details on how to land Twitch Drops here.

Confirmation emails for early access will start being sent out from today, so keep an eye on your inbox. Don’t worry if you’re not sent one straight away, because Warner say codes will be distributed through the whole of the early access window. It’s not a hefty download at 7 GB, and the recommended specs aren’t too demanding: i5-3470 or Ryzen 5 1200, GTX 660 or Radeon R9 270, and 8 GB RAM. There’s also full keyboard and mouse support, and fighters on PC will be matched with console players regardless of what input device you’re rocking.

Warner Smash Bros. was first revealed to our increasingly franchise-saturated world back in November last year. Ed dipped his toes into licensed waters when he tackled MultiVersus’ closed alpha in May, and felt it did enough to differentiate itself from the obvious influence of Nintendo’s brawler. “Rather than distinguish characters by weight, here characters fit into certain roles or classes, a bit like Overwatch. Arya Stark is a damage-dealing assassin, while Wonder Woman is a tank,” he said. “Seeing as the game’s premiere mode is 2v2, these classes are clearly an attempt to make fights a more cooperative affair.”

MultiVersus is due to launch this year and will be free-to-play on Steam, as well as consoles. The open beta begins on July 26th at 9am PDT/5pm BST/6pm CEST, unless you were part of the closed alpha test. Anyone who was will receive an invite to the early access period that starts July 19th.