Mortal Kombat 1 announced plans to release a premium Halloween-themed fatality and fans of the franchise are less than pleased.
The official X, formerly known as Twitter, support account for Warner Bros. Games unveiled the release date for Mortal Kombat 1‘s upcoming Halloween Fatality, which will reportedly be available for purchase via the title’s in-game premium store on Oct. 27. Warner Bros. Games notably did not include a preview for the controversial microtransaction.
Mortal Kombat 1 players were disheartened by the announcement of a premium fatality, which many fans believed was a gross abuse of the game’s monetization system. Several users additionally stated that paid fatalities should not exist in a full-price game, especially when some players purchased the Mortal Kombat 1 Premium Edition–a special package that remains priced at over $100. Fans also decried Mortal Komabt 1 developer NetherRealm Studio for adding DLC content so soon after the title’s launch, especially when considering its lackluster Nintendo Switch version is still plagued with severe technical and graphical issues.
Mortal Kombat Fans Slam Halloween Fatality
This wasn’t the first time the franchise faced backlash from fans for a controversial fatality microtransaction. Fatalities have long been a staple of the Mortal Kombat series, and would usually involve a player inputting several button combinations to bring the match to an extravagant and gory conclusion. However, 2015’s Mortal Kombat X included a consumable microtransaction, which offered players a method of skipping the traditional inputs if they bought five “Easy Fatalities” for $0.99 or 30 “Easy Fatalities” for $4.99. While players could also earn “Easy Fatalities” by playing the game, many still criticized Mortal Kombat X for adding a microtransaction that actively discouraged players from learning the title’s mechanics.
The series’ most recent entry also landed in controversy when fans discovered the Nintendo Switch version was not up to par with other consoles. While Mortal Kombat 1’s Switch version offered all the features and characters found in PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, the Switch version was still heavily downgraded in terms of graphics, while additionally suffering from laggy menus and long load times. This was in spite of the game’s $70 price tag, which fans believed was far too much to pay when considering the rampant technical issues impeding the Nintendo Switch version.
Mortal Kombat 1 is available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Source: Twitter
