Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition has been removed from Steam and has had its online services shuttered by the publisher. The offline modes still work, but keys for the game on PC are now much harder to come by. It appears that there has even been a bit of a run on grey market games sites with people snapping up what keys remain in circulation.
Some sources suggest that there may be an explanation for this sudden and unannounced removal and shutdown. The potential explanation lies in a somewhat unique quirk with Warner Bros. When the game first released, WB held the license for Freddy Krueger, one of the iconic characters which appeared in the video game. Since that time though, as the PC version of Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition debuted in 2011, the rights have defaulted back to the original holder, leading to the potential for a rights dispute. And it’s this dispute that some are speculating as to motivating the shutdown of services for the game, as well as its disappearance from online stores.
As Warner Bros has stated:
“PLAYSTATION 3 PLAYERS:
Due to changes with our network, access to online multiplayer features for Mortal Kombat (2011) on PlayStation 3 will no longer be available. Offline game modes, including the Story mode, will still be accessible.
PLAYSTATION 3, XBOX 360, STEAM PLAYERS:
The Message of the Day feature for Mortal Kombat (2011) on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Steam will no longer be available due to these network changes.”
Considering this potential could explain the whole mess, but given that the older console generations were also swept up in this, there’s another potential explanation. It could be that the network infrastructure for the older hardware that the game ran on was out-of-date, and WB made the decision to pull the plug rather than spend the money bringing it back into line with their other services. It could also be possible that this and the potential rights issues with some characters in Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition both had a hand to play here.
Warner Bros has yet to formally announce any plans for the PC port of the game or a potential return of services for online players.
