Developer Quarter Up and publisher Skybound Games have announced that the fighting game Invincible VS is getting Agent Spider as an addition to its roster. The character was unveiled with a trailer that clocks in at just over a minute in length, which you can check out below.
The trailer showcases the character by having him come in to rescue the eponymous protagonist. Unfortunately, however, we don’t really get to see how the character would perform in a typical match. Rather, we simply get a look at Agent Spider after the fight, covered in his opponent’s blood. For now, Quarter Up has confirmed that Agent Spider will be coming to Invincible VS this winter and will be available as part of the year one Character Pass for the game.
The character’s arrival will be marked with the addition of more content to Invincible VS. While no details about this content have been revealed, the studio has said that there will be an entirely new game mode, as well as a new arena. In terms of overall content, Invincible VS is hitting its second season, which is bringing in its own set of characters and content.
Following the release of Invincible VS earlier this year, it looks like developer Quarter Up has been going through some rough times. Back in August, the studio was hit by layoffs, which were confirmed by a number of now-former employees who took to LinkedIn. Among these was former gameplay engineer Daniel Schlesinger, who said, “Alongside many others, I was laid off last week from Skybound Entertainment and the Quarter Up team.”
While the studio itself hasn’t offered any details, reports have indicated that around 35 of the 50-member team had been cut. The layoffs were seemingly kicked off in June with four employees being affected, followed by 29 more in July. Currently, the studio seems to only be staffed with a “skeleton crew” that has been tasked with supporting the fighting game “through the first wave of DLC” that had already been announced.
“The assumption is that Invincible VS didn’t perform to what [Quarter Up] expected, and, unfortunately, they didn’t have the budget to keep people around,” said one employee when asked about the reasons behind the layoffs.
Invincible VS was released in May on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. In our review, we gave the fighting game a score of 8 out of 10 thanks to a variety of factors, like simple and responsive inputs, its striking visual style that makes use of stop-motion impacts, and deep and complex gameplay mechanics. Our criticisms largely revolved around the balance between offensive and defensive options, the lack of depth in its training mode, and a short campaign that tells a derivative story that assumes that the player is already well-versed in the Invincible universe.
For more on the fighting game, take a look at our interview with the developers, which involved subjects like giving players learning tools, how Invincible VS sets itself apart from its competition, and the game’s emphasis on gratuitous violence.
