Mortal Kombat 1 is the latest entry in one of the most iconic fighting game franchises. But compared to other big players like Street fighter 6 and Tekken 8his license plates for EVOthe largest fighting game tournament in the world, are nothing, coming in at 645 compared to SF6‘s 5265. It is also concurrent players on Steam are almost half of the last record, Mortal Kombat 11. For those who don’t actively play NetherRealm Studios’ fighting games, this may seem like a shocking statistic. But for fans, it’s not that surprising, but it’s definitely worrisome.
The conversation about MK1The status of started when Hungrybox, prolific Super Smash Bros. player and previous EVO winner, noted Mortal Kombat 1the low turnout of EVO compared to most other games hosted at the event. He also pointed out that several reactions to competitive player Alex ”Dyloch” Ruiz pop up destroying property over the weekend they were stuck in the game. Did the community reject Mortal Kombat 1? According to people with knowledge of the scene, it’s a bit more complicated than that, but the game is controversial for several reasons.
Commentator Saki Sakura argues that Mortal KombatThe in-person competitive scene has always been small, with most players staying online. She also says that many NetherRealm players fight on consoles, unlike Steam, so PC concurrents are not the best indicator of player retention. She also claims that NetherRealm fans are “famous” for going back to old games. Others, like longtime NetherRealm competitive champion SonicFox, note that because the game is banned in places like Japan, it can’t get out of the country’s fighting game community, which is a core region for other fighting game communities. They weighed and said while MK1 there are problems Mortal KombatThe player’s lower position in tournament entries is likely the effect of years of community members immersing themselves in the series, rather than just potential dissatisfaction with the latest game.
“This has been going on for years,” they said in a tweet. “I honestly believe the game is incredibly good and maybe in its best position yet, but people keep talking about it in a negative light.” Especially from figures who don’t even play the game.”
While some of these phenomena may be the same old nonsense to NetherRealm players, Mortal Kombat 1 definitely divisive some players too are less forgiving than Sonic Fox.
One of the main changes in Mortal Kombat 1 included the performance of Cameo supporting characters. which provide assist attacks to the main character in combat, which has divided the community, but some of the decline in concurrent players can probably be traced to casual players not feeling the grind. Keeping player numbers high requires just as much attention to be paid to people who don’t want to give up on the local tournament.
“Yeah since launch I’ve only spent 45 hours on this game (according to my stats),” wrote MANavarro17 on Reddit. “Kameo’s combat and mechanics are great, but as a casual grind, the grind just sucks and doesn’t feel as rewarding compared to previous games. “Invasions” are not fun at all, most times frustrating and annoying.
“The cameos were a bad idea imo,” wrote Exciting_Passenger39. “I thought it would be like a tag team setup, not the bs we have.”
“For all intents and purposes, I’m a mega fan of this franchise, but I have to say, yeah, I’m not too enamored with MK1,” RealmJumper15 wrote. “The gameplay is fun and the Kameo system is neat, but other than that the game doesn’t really have anything to hold me.”
But some still claim this Mortal Kombat 1 (and the franchise as a whole) isn’t built for long-term competitive play, and that makes it affordable compared to its contemporaries. So maybe it doesn’t matter that it doesn’t attract that many competitive players to EVO.
“I think this is probably due to the purely competitive side of things,” ChemistryTasty8751 wrote. “Other fighting games like Street Fighter and Tekken pride themselves on balancing professional play and competition, trying to outdo themselves with big-budget tournaments. Meanwhile Mortal Kombat don’t mess with it Mortal Kombat is a game that prioritizes casual fun because it’s the only fighting game I’d actually recommend to beginners because it’s not “you have to hit the perfect entrance in this shot and position yourself at this exact point to eliminate ultimate lag “It’s more like, ‘here’s your character, I’m going crazy.’
But in the wider competitive landscape, isn’t this a concern Mortal Kombat 1 lags so far behind not only its direct competitors but its own games?
“That’s actually hilariously pathetic,” NatiHanson wrote regarding Mortal Kombat 1reddit registration numbers. “People will come up with different forms of kopuim, but that’s sad. Year 2 MKX had more participants than this one. NetherRealm were completely caught off guard by the competition (T8, SF6), and I don’t think Kameos caught on like they hoped.”
“Tekken and SF and even the anime are putting out the best products they’ve probably ever had (I’m not necessarily saying GAME DESIGN – but just AS A PRODUCT),” Vergilkilla wrote back. “Meanwhile NRS—while the game of MK1 is a huge improvement over MK11— as a product is worse. More buggy, less content, less modes, worse online than the previous game for some reason. It’s a worse consumer product, even if it’s a better game. You can’t go backwards when all your competitors are moving very, very far ahead.”
Eventually, Mortal Kombat 1 he may not be dead, but he’s clearly in a weird place in both his racing and casual scenes. What lessons, if any, will NetherRealm learn from this? This is the lesson the studio needs to learn Injustice 3 instead? That’s what I’d like to see. NetherRealm is still actively supporting MK1 and there is several DLC characters are still in line to join the list. Some of them are returning fighters, while others are crossovers from other media.
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