Promising virtual tabletop One More Multiverse, home to digital Blades in the Dark and Yazeba's B&B, is shutting down
Users have 90 days to keep playing and save their creations.
One More Multiverse, the ambitious virtual tabletop app for playing RPGs online using fetching pixel-art sprites and a flexible, user-friendly interface akin to a video game, is closing down.
One More Multiverse started life four years ago, launching into a beta in 2021 before seeing a full release last summer. Since then, the impressively polished app added official digital adaptations of moody heist RPG Blades in the Dark and cosy Ghibli-esque game Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast to its existing support for the likes of Dungeons & Dragons 5E and homebrew systems.
“Virtual tabletops are currently quite literal, and focus on replicating an in-person experience,” co-founder Sara Alfageeh told Dicebreaker ahead of One More Multiverse’s launch three years ago. “We want to preserve what's unique about TTRPGs, but take advantage of all the possibilities that can only exist in a browser.”
Unfortunately, it seems that for all the team’s efforts, the virtual tabletop just couldn’t balance its ambitions with sustainability. In a statement announcing One More Multiverse’s shutdown, the platform’s team ascribed the decision to being unable to find a way to support the free-to-play app long-term.
“We spent the past year working very hard to develop a new path forward, but after careful consideration it’s become clear that it’s not enough to support the OMM platform. For that, we are sorry,” they wrote, adding that half a million people had used the browser-based toolkit since its launch.
Players’ assets and verses - the app’s term for player-made game tables and worlds - including custom characters and NPCs, will remain available for 90 days from the announcement on May 13th. Yazeba’s Online can no longer be purchased, with those who already own the digital RPG being able to play until August 11th. OMM's closure announcement precedes the official release date for Yazeba's, revealed just days before.
“OMM was an amazing project with a wonderful team. They recreated Blades and Doskvol with so much love and artistry. So sad to see it go,” Blades in the Dark creator John Harper responded to the news on X.
Alongside the shutdown of One More Multiverse as an app, the studio confirmed that it would be shuttered as a whole. Those on the team will be provided with severance, extensions to healthcare and support with job hunting, according to the company.
We here on Dicebreaker took One More Multiverse for a spin multiple times over the years - including playing Yazeba’s and Blades through the app. It felt like a well-crafted, highly polished alternative to platforms such as Roll20 and D&D Beyond, with plenty of ambition and thought behind its flashy retro-styled visuals. It’s a real shame to see it go. Best of luck to those on the team with whatever the future holds.