So in a bit of a surprising announcement, NetherRealm and Warner Bros. have revealed what DRM controls will be in the upcoming fighting game, Mortal Kombat 11. And guess what? You’re not going to like what plan they have in mind in terms of controlling play of their game.
So it turns out that the publisher is pushing for nearly the entire game to require an always active internet connection. And yes, this always-online policy expands to various singleplayer modes as well, not just the multiplayer. And it appears as though the servers are having connection problems, leaving content refusing to unlock and modes inaccessible.
According to a Tweet from NetherRealm developer Daanish Syed, before it was quickly deleted, Mortal Kombat 11 requires a constant online connection in order to access these modes and the gear they offer as well as achievements.
Specifically, this extends to the Towers of Time and The Krypt modes. Which is really surprising considering how important these modes are to player progression. The Towers is a very similar mode to the Multiverse mode of Injustice 2. This new gameplay feature is a gear-based unlock system with multiple tiers that the player unlocks by winning matches. Progressing with a character can unlock new gear and moves which become more useful in later stages. It’s somewhat akin to a revamped version of the older Arcade Ladders, just more complex. The Krypt is where all the other unlockables in the game, including achievements are unlocked and stored in a gallery mode.
In essence, the major progression outside of singleplayer campaigns is not working for those who are playing offline. It’s pretty clear how fans and gamers will react to this, they’re going to really hate it.
One will have to wonder what the Switch version of this game will be like. I would assume that the game has an offline mode on that versions, archiving changes on the local storage of the device while the player plays, then syncing the data with the external servers the next time the console connects to a WiFi connection. Although this isn’t confirmed, so it’s possible that the Switch version will require WiFi for some features, we’ll just have to wait until launch to find out.
The game is due to launch on April 23rd for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. So despite what many will feel as bad news with this DRM setup, at least the game is rather close to coming out.
