So bad news fighting game fans, it turns out that Mortal Kombat 11 will have microtransactions. This information was revealed in the most recent Kombat Kast livestream with some of the development team over at NetherRealm Studios. You can find the full video down below. The stream also showed off gore and Fatalities aplenty, so there’s at least something cool to watch.
The system will use a premium currency dubbed time crystals, and these can only be used to purchase cosmetic effects and skins for characters, and no gameplay-affecting skills or character changes are on the table as of now. It’s not really that surprising that this kind of a money spinner was thrown into the game, as disappointing as it might be to understand just how inescapable this greedy nonsense is. Even some of my favorite games drive their monetization strategies around these cosmetic items.
Speaking on the topic, producer Shaun Himmerick gave gamers some more details about how the system will work. “Nothing in the game requires time crystals,” Himmerick noted. “You can play the whole game, unlock all the stuff there, without every dealing with time crystals. If you want, you can get time crystals and shortcut your way to different things.” So you will be able to earn these crystals through normal play. At least they won’t be doing a sponsored run of Crystal Pepsi to earn free Time Crystals in-game, oh god. I just gave them that idea didn’t I?
There is one bit of “good” news, as it has been confirmed that no loot boxes will appear in this particular fighting game. Other genre titles like Street Fighter V experimented with these kinds of systems in the past, much to the dismay of players. No prices for items have been revealed yet, but I would be willing to bet that the absence of loot boxes in the game means that the publisher will push for higher prices on the more elaborate skins to compensate for the loss of the extra layer of greedy milking that those games of chance offer. I can hear Jim Sterling doing his “AAA” publisher impression as I’m writing this, dripping with cynicism and all.
Mortal Kombat 11 is coming to Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One on April 23 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon.
