With the recent release of 3-on-3 tag fighter Invincible VS, we had quite a few questions for Quarter Up. Executive producer Mike Willette, game director Dave Hall, and technical director Bill Merrill were kind enough to answer all of our burning questions, that range from plans for post-launch support, to the kinds of learning tools that players have access to in Invincible VS, and even the developers’ thoughts on current-generation console hardware.
Invincible is known for its brutality, but the beta showed that you are trying to make that violence feel organic to the fight rather than just spectacle. What was the philosophy behind translating that tone from the comics and show into a competitive fighting game?
Mike – We never wanted to stop the action. Just like the shows and comics, we wanted the stakes of battle to feel organic and natural to the action. If a move could kill, we wanted that represented on screen showing the stakes of battle.
Invincible VS is entering a crowded space of tag fighters. What do you see as the game’s clearest gameplay identity, and how do you want it to stand apart from other 3v3 titles?
Mike – We focused on our authenticity to the brutal stakes of fighting in the Invincible Universe, and we wanted to bring all the knowledge that we had built up on our years of KI to the tag battle genre, introducing more 2 way interactions between players. Even when you’re getting hit, you have a chance to get right back into the battle.
“If a move could kill, we wanted that represented on screen showing the stakes of battle.”
The open beta leaned heavily on ranked play, tutorial, and practice mode. What were the biggest takeaways from player feedback, and what changed as a result?
Dave – We updated our damage scaling based on the amount of easy and repeatable touch of deaths that were occurring, we wanted to make sure the higher damage combos go through the tag system. Another area we looked into was making sure moves that felt like they should get punished, could be punished.
You’ve talked about approachability without “dumbing down” the game. How are you balancing accessibility for Invincible fans who may be new to fighting games with the expectations of veteran players?
Dave – We have a variety of easy combos that players can enjoy, there are auto combos by pressing light attack, magic chains, and specials that can be used as openers. The easier routes for combos are not optimal for meter or damage scaling but veteran players can use our open combo system to maximize damage and meter gain.
The tag system clearly opens the door for big combo creativity, but beyond tagging, what are the most important mechanics players should learn to really understand the game at a deeper level?
Mike – We have a unique combo structure where you can go from normal attacks to special moves, and back into normal attacks. Learning how to cancel from our various attack types and manipulating those moves through our boost system allows you to extend your combos and be very creative.
“The easier routes for combos are not optimal for meter or damage scaling”
What is your overall balance philosophy at launch? Should players expect fast responses to things like infinites and broken tech, or are you aiming for larger, more measured balance updates?
Dave – If there are issues that are ruining the fun time for our players we will jump on those as soon as possible. But we want to be very careful with our updates to balance moving forward, we will be watching how the meta progresses and address tuning in a measured way.
The full game includes a cinematic story mode with an original narrative. What can solo or offline-focused players expect from that mode beyond just a series of fights?
Mike – There are several arcade modes to play through with varying degrees of challenge. Each character has a unique ending you unlock by beating any arcade mode with them as the point character. Additionally players are rewarded for all their competitive activities with Player and Character rewards. You can unlock new character colors, player card customization items, music, art, and various collectibles from the Invincible Universe.
Training tools can make or break a modern fighter. What kinds of training mode options, frame-data tools, combo assistance, and tutorials are you prioritizing?
Mike – The Tutorial will teach the fundamentals of our combat system. Our practice mode offers a variety of dummy options, recording and playing back inputs, and frame/attack data displays to allow for deep diving into scenarios with your favorite characters.
“Each character has a unique ending you unlock by beating any arcade mode with them as the point character.”
The beta let players queue from practice into ranked, which is a great quality-of-life feature. Are there any other online or lab features you think competitive players will especially appreciate?
Mike – Our practice mode offers a variety of dummy options, recording and playing back inputs, and frame/attack data displays to allow for deep diving into scenarios with your favorite characters.
With the Year 1 pass already confirmed and Immortal and Universa announced first, how are you thinking about post-launch support beyond just adding characters? Are there plans for new modes, story additions, or major system updates?
Mike – Nothing to announce at this time but we are looking into more support for the game including updates to balance and quality of life improvements.
Given the team’s fighting-game pedigree, including veterans with Killer Instinct experience, were there any lessons from past projects that directly shaped how Invincible VS handles pacing, readability, or hype moments?
Dave – We love hype moments! From overkills to feints, we really enjoy celebrating the hype moments that turn the tide of battle.
“We love hype moments!”
From a developer perspective, what are your thoughts on the PS5 Pro, and how does the added GPU power change your approach compared to the base PS5?
Bill – As a competitive fighting game, Invincible VS has strict performance requirements on all platforms, so PS5 Pro’s capabilities allowed us maximize optimization efforts on lower-end GPUs, while pushing visual fidelity and resolution quality even further for PS5 Pro owners.
What resolutions and frame rates are you targeting on PS5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X and PS5 Pro?
Bill – We are targeting 60hz gameplay on all target platforms; consoles included. We leverage dynamic resolution techniques internally to make careful trade-offs between detail and performance in various stages of the rendering pipeline. We target 4K output on both PS5 platforms, but PS5 Pro’s more powerful GPU allows us to crank dynamic resolution targets to achieve crystal clear 4K output.
