Iron Galaxy’s Rumbleverse Is So Much Better

On January 31, 2023, Iron Galaxy announced that their “Brawlers Royale” multiplayer game rumbleverse will be closed forever, By the end of February, we’ll be saying goodbye to one of the more innovative, enjoyable, and downright varied multiplayer games available on the market today, and that’s really a shame. The Rumbleverse was so much better than it was when the game went into sunset only six months after its launch.

It sucks because Rumbleverse’s core gameplay was fantastic, with easy to learn controls, plenty of moves to use and a surprising amount of depth that pushed the game beyond just 40 players in the lobby mashing buttons and hoping for the best. Sure, I may have cursed the Rumbleverse’s name a few times in the days following the game, as the Rumbleverse liked to match me with top-ranked players who could destroy me in one combo, but that didn’t stop my final game. Made the victory even sweeter.

With the gameplay solid, it’s hard to work out why Rumbleverse might “fail.” Some have already pointed out the game’s admittedly generic visuals, which are reminiscent of fellow Epic published game Fortnite. You could argue that Rumbleverse’s identity rests heavily on its actual gameplay rather than its visual appeal, which means a lot of people could have been put off by first impressions alone.

You could even argue that the gameplay itself is what led to the death of the Rumbleverse, and it has nothing to do with the game being balanced or any updates Iron Galaxy has added. Rumbleverse was essentially ice-skating upwards of being a melee-focused multiplayer brawler in a shooter-dominated landscape. Without 360 scopes or cranked 90s in the Rumbleverse, it was always going to be aimed at a niche audience, which limited its overall lifespan.

Some have also pointed to the lack of marketing that the Rumbleverse received from Epic Games, as there are people who have only heard of the Rumbleverse now that it is being discontinued. Seeing as how Epic Games also has Fortnite and Rocket League in its portfolio, it could have been very easy for Epic to do some sort of collaboration to drum up interest in the Rumbleverse. Hell, Fortnite even has in-game characters and wrestlers, both of which are perfect for the Rumbleverse.

Personally, I think at least part of the truth lies elsewhere. Quite frankly, trying to make a multiplayer game, let alone just another battle royale game, that actually does something different is a folly. People will play the same online shooters and battle royale day in and day out before complaining on social media that they want something new from games. However, along comes a game like Rumbleverse that really does something different, but through no fault of its own, it expires after half a year.

It’s not hard to conclude that people just don’t want something different anymore, which is sad because I really love multiplayer games that try to experiment with how you interact with other players. It seems like the last multiplayer game that actively tried to be different was Among Us, and now it’s spawned a wave of social cheater multiplayer games that are probably going to be delisted by the end of the year, too.

Since Iron Galaxy announced that the Rumbleverse would be shutting down, scores of players have taken to social media to share some of their favorite moments with the game, while lamenting the fact that it’s all over by the end of the month. Will be done. Hopefully, this extension of support will prove to some developers that there’s a market for games that do things a little differently before the Rumbleverse is given the off Mice and Men treatment, especially if they’re hugely hyped brawlers that fight fighting games. And mix wrestling.

In the meantime, I’ll see you all on the barge. I’ll be the guy with the pixel sunglasses in Cobra Kai G.

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