Ahead of tomorrow's launch of MultiVersus, it's been revealed that Warner Bros. Games and developer Player First Games have removed all of Justin Roiland's previous dialogue for the characters of Rick and Morty in the game.
MultiVersus had been using snippets of dialogue, originally voiced by Roiland, from the show. However, as PC Gamer notes, the new build of the game has removed that dialogue and replaced it with original voice work performed by Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden — the new voices of Rick and Morty, respectively, in the hit animated series on Adult Swim.
Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon had created Rick and Morty for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. And for six seasons, Roiland voiced by Rick and Morty on the series.
However, in January 2023, it was reported that Roiland was charged with felony domestic battery and false imprisonment. That same month, Adult Swim had parted ways with Roiland on Rick and Morty, though the series would continue for a seventh season with Ian Cardoni and Harry Beldon eventually named as his replacement.
Roiland was also removed from Hulu's Solar Opposites, a show co-created, with Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Stevens taking over as the voice of Korvo. He also left his gaming studio, Squanch Games, over the scandal.
It wasn't until March 2023 that the criminal charges against Roiland were dismissed due to insufficient evidence. Roiland returned to social media vowing to "move forward and focus both on my creative projects and restoring my good name."
However, fresh sexual assault allegations arose in late 2023 regarding Roiland engaging in sexually inappropriate contact with underage fans. Roiland's lawyer has called these allegations "false and defamatory," and no charges have been filed.
Despite the charges of Roiland's previous case being dropped, it's no surprise that Warner Bros. would want to steer clear of any sort of baggage that may come with the actor. With MultiVersus going on hiatus following its open beta in 2023, it provided Player First Games an opportunity to improve all aspects of the game — that includes the voice work which now features original dialogue for Rick and Morty, and not snippets pulled from the show.
Given that MultiVersus is primarily a platform fighter and not some story-driven single-player adventure, character dialogue probably isn't the biggest focus for fans. Unless you're a huge fan of Justin Roiland, odds are you won't even notice the change in voice over.
MultiVersus is set to launch as a free-to-play game on Tuesday, May 28th. It will be available for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 consoles, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One consoles, and PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), with full cross-play and cross-progression support.