Has nothing to do with Ed Boon. Has everything to do with money. Investors want them moneys, and MK is safe and risk-averse, and WB will pick the least risky option that can make the most money with the least funding. I'm sorry to go all "capitalism bad", but that's the reality of the situation.
@@casbalt7763 I mean I guess so.but it's kind of just mass hypocrisy no? I mean we would xenomorphs, predator & robocop back then but suddenly a blue ninja copying the predator head rip is a big no no. Tldr: "concerned" parents = hypocrites
@@moopersworthninjason42nd81 i mean the games for robocop and stuff were significantly toned down from their movie incarnations. But you are correct the parents and activist groups at the time were severely overreacting to the current boogyman at the time. For instance the other game they were mad at was night trap for enouraging violence against women. Despite the fact that the point of the game was to save the girls lol.
"Less of a fighting game made for competitive fighting game players, more of a product for players that want to play a fighting game" that's it you nailed it!. I've been trying to find a way to explain that to people for years but i could'nt find it in the simplest form. the MK series for a very long time has just been a product for consumers to play short term while the actual competitive aspect is so low on the priority list
@@doogies Theres just been two bad ones. I think youre trying to be overly critical for content. MKX and prior had fine skill expression and competitive scenes the newer ones just sucked. In contrast to Injustice which kept the exact same identity, MK opted to change gameplay style and system mechanics 3 times in 3 games, badly. The point is: focusing on whether its a casual game or competitive game is why they fell off. Constantly saying "mk was never serious like street fighter" is why they keep taking it in a more boring skilless direction than it used to be NOT because the playerbase is casual but because they seriously think IT IS WHATS COMPETITIVE.
Comparing MK to Call of Duty is pretty apt. I've played MK games casually since the SNES. To me, they are all about the spectacle of the individual game. IIRC MK games always appealed more to the casual market and have included lots of single-player focused content like mingames, the Krypt, a huge focus on story mode, and other features which have much more appeal to the large casual audience than a strict focus on the competitive scene. I have enjoyed the last three MK games, but I never considered for a moment spending time to grind and get good at them. To me, they were games to pick up, explore the single-player stuff, mess around in vs mode for a bit, then dip until the next content patch.
MK is trapped in a time loop. Every time they reach the end of John Tobias' lore, the story goes off the rails and they have to reboot. Now they've rebooted MK into being an assist game with a multiverse bs. There was no reason for MK9 to rush through the lore of the first 3 games except for the fact that Ed Boon can't expand the lore. Every time Ed Boon paints himself into corner, reboot. I bet you a dollar that this multiverse crap gets rebooted back to the original MK storyline. Time loop...
MK1 immediately pivoting to multiverse slop when it was supposed to be the New Era was the clearest sign that they've just given up trying to do anything new or interesting.
@@JoelBurger MK has a built in flaw. Killing off its characters is their main selling point. If you can't write new stories and can't design new, interesting characters, you probably shouldn't be killing off the characters you already have just to be "edgy". Same thing goes for gameplay. MK10 was good. Why did they reboot the core gameplay instead of building on the MK10 formula?
@@similaritiesendhere Because part of that core gameplay was wearing out its welcome after so long. 3 different 'load outs' per character was nice but why put so much work when some of those load outs are not even fleshed out? Though I will argue that part of the appeal of MKX to me was it played 'fast' like some anime fighters. Though the run mechanic hooked up some chars. The slower it played the more of the 'core' mechanics seem to get exposed like NRS projectile zoning.
@@t4d0W Remove the loadouts and give the characters all their moves. Then balance that. Make the variant outfits unlockables. Problem solved. Ed Boon doesn't know what he's doing. He's not a lore creator. He's not a fighting game designer. He's a salesman masquerading as both. He couldn't balance MK11 so he made an assist game (which is way harder to balance). That tells me that everyone at NetherRealms is scared to tell him when he's wrong.
It kind of is. A lot of people are too young to remember this but MK was conceived because they thought SF2 sucked. That's why you have easy commands for special moves, block button and no cross ups. Basically Ed Boon and John Tobias got washed in Street Fighter 2 and decided to make MK out of salt. It's ironic because you have some of the biggest scrubs that play MK and MK only. People who still don't block, still jump to move their character and only goes for uppercuts.
Bro when 3S had more people in attendance than MK1 in it's first year and VF5 R.E.V.O. Open Beta has more Twitch viewers and casual tournaments than your new season, you're cooked. Those games are old as fuck. Legacy games for sure but that SHOULDN'T happen. Can you imagine if SFV or 4 saw more players than it's current game? It's not normal.
Mortal Kombat is the Mcdonald's of fighting games. It's fast food slop for the masses. It's not meant to be a beloved fighting game, it's supposed to be Call of Duty.
That’s the funny thing about MK1. This was supposed to be the longest supported one in order to actually break the 2 year cycle until it got axed by WB. They even took extra time to develop this game compared to the others (granted half of this game’s development was during Covid). They also experimented the most with their characters in this game as well to make them more unique gameplay-wise. I see this as a massive L and people saying that the silver lining is that we’ll get the next game sooner are painfully wrong. Like it’s gonna be more of the same shit that we complain about with every release. We’re gonna get another rushed half baked game on launch again because 2 years isn’t enough time to fully flesh out and develop a game, and then when the game actually starts to get decent NRS/WB will stop supporting it because the 2 years are up. Every NRS game has been like this. There’s no monetary incentive for their higher ups at WB to have long standing support either because a new MK is always gonna outsell expansions (just look at Khaos Reigns). This isn’t to say that NRS is completely blameless here, but WB and whatever contract they have with NRS is killing this franchise more than anything else. It’s become WB’s franchise more than it is Ed Boon’s.
Growing up an MK fan since it started I had to come to terms a while ago that NRS are movie makers. They’re making entertainment a la WWE. Bamco, Capcom for example are more like MMA -they are still fighting game makers first and the products clearly reflect that. MK has become the one night stand of fighting games.
don't you feel like they've just slowly sucked all the personality out of Mortal Kombat since MKX, and I'm stating the obvious to say it's a massive shame for a series where personality was the massive strong point
Hmmm. What is the major difference. Like what aspect of the personality in your opinion gone? It's still gory. Plot I'm wary of because people hated Kombat kids, hated the Johnny cage push and hated how lui kang was done dirty in 9. So hate for the plot is still there. What's so different from a personality perspective?
Idk if I agree. I hear this complaint about almost every fighter. So I think it's mostly just gonna come down to what aspects of a games "identity" you respond to. Cause IMO, I think MK1's visual identity is much stronger than MKX or 11, but plenty of people would disagree with that too.
@@Donte0930 Mostly that the fantasy weird shit is kinda getting more and more 'realistic'. There's SOME return to that in MK1, esp with a lot of the interactions with the outworld chars in story mode, but it feels constrained.
We the consumer shape how the company is going to strategize. If we the consumer don't want to buy season passes and iap purchase drops constantly after the initial release, then the studio isn't going to waste their time and money making them. If we the consumer want the whole package upfront for a single payment, then that's what the studio will give us. What that means though is a much shorter life cycle for each game since the studio doesn't have enough incentive to update the game post release.
Sadly that's not the reality. Most companies just shrug their shoulders and throw that in the vault if people stop buying stuff. Heck people DO support stuff and games still get put on ice. Look how long it's been since Mega Man 11 came out or how Melty Blood continued to give out free content updates despite having 10 people still playing it. There really is no telling these days.
@@tokyobassist Yeah most companies put games on ice or change their business model when people don't buy enough stuff to warrant updating the game. Thats what I said.
Having conversations about MK is usually hard since they're rarely ever objective due to the bad image it has in the fgc. With that said, as someone who has bought all of the games since MK vs DC, and took the competitive side seriously since MK11, seeing MK decline in real time makes me a bit sad. MK11 was a great product but not very fun for most people, while I find MK1 fun when I play, but it's not a good product. As a developer myself, I have a lot of empathy for the teams at NRS, as I know they really care about the IP, and every day I wish that WB let it go. I currently don't play MK1 very much compared to other fighting games, and moving forward it will be hard to justify buying another game if this season 3 cancellation is true. MK is very dear to me and I'm tired of the IP being pimped rather than handled properly.
The most annoying part of MK following a COD-esque 1 year cycle, is that its the fighting game series most allergic to legacy. So if you really click with the newest game's assortment of mechanics and roster, the next one might be entirely different. Case in point, MK11(which i hated) to MK1(which i really enjoy) Or for a character specific example, Rain in MK11 to Rain in MK1 are completely different characters in nearly every way except element And that kinda sucks that the version you click with, just gets dropped in 1 or 2 years by NRS, while also dealing with their insanely selective communication practices and odd balancing decisions throughout that initial year or 2 of support
WB Games sinking as a company is slowly sinking even their best video game developers. Rocksteady made 3 God tier Batman games then fell off hard with Suicide Squad, and NRS has slowly lost the plot the last few years. The fact the NRS dive is not harder is actually impressive when every other media at Time Warner / Discovery is in the toilet.
All they had to do was make Shaolin Monks 2 which improves on every aspect of the original, with more locales to explore, secrets to find, and characters to play
They just need to do a crossover fighter as a standalone. Shake up mechanics a bit, push it like a Smash game, many people are sick of the modern MK brand They have the crossover characters to sell it, just lean MORE into that
Hope this train stays on rails long enough for WB to really have to go into the tank for guest characters. Truth be told, as much as I enjoyed the Conan films and have respect for the influence Conan stories had on fantasy media of the last, like, bazillion years this character was a real head-scratcher for me. I'm trying to get to the day where they're rooting around in the couch cushions for includes, having given up on MK storytelling in favor of having Captain Planet square up with Huckleberry Hound. When that day comes I'm gonna be grinding whatever monetization method they've implemented, trying to grime out zoomers with the Top Cat assist.
It is what it is I suppose. But they are risking wearing out the franchise. Anyhow, as long as there are gen-x and millenials breathing, Mortal Kombat will be a thing.
It makes perfect sense but it is also kind of funny how oldheads would just embrace and expect 6-12 month cycles for new games/versions with no post-launch to now expecting multiple years of support for a single game for it to be considered legit. I get the feeling Ed was being serious when he said he wanted to support this game for much longer, especially given they gave it an extra 2 years in the oven with no IJ3 in the middle. WB execs are truly clowns.
The biggest shame is MK1 went from meh at launch (but still leagues better than MK11) to a game that is super fun. MK9 and MKX are still the pinnacle of NRS for me but man it is a shame to see them have to throw in the towel so soon when this game could have become something truly special with another year or two of changes.
The same way Batman can have the Arkham series and show up for Injustice, I'd like to see something like that for MK, make an action game spinoff that's even more in-depth than the old Shaolin Monks game was, explore Outworld as either an established character like Kung Lao or even a new character that will show up for the next fighting game, battling monsters, ninja, cyborgs etc. Hell WB is currently sitting on that Nemesis System from their LOTR action games and that would be perfect to implement here as well.
If they are going the call of duty route, I wonder if this means that WB will assign another studio or two to work on the next game while the current one is out and have them all play leapfrog. Or force the burden all onto Ed.
the thing to me i guess is WB games HATE legacy. They could literally pump up the MK name again just by releasing a new MK collection of games 1-4 and get good buzz around the IP again. but they wont do it. Midway arcade classics across the board will be lucky to be rereleased in any form. the last time they were it was for a LEGO GAME EXPANSION i am not kidding. Capcom is pumped out 3 great collections (beat em up bundle, Fighting Collection, MVC collection, without even counting capcom stadium) with a 4th coming.
And im the only one waited for character creation just because of final chapter in the original Story mode, and I wish that should be part of final update before next MK game and after last DLC too
i feel NRS has already proves that they can at least *make* crossover conglomerated game with both Injustices. theyve made some of the best looking iterations of DC characters to ever exist, then a few years later its Johnny Cage doing a fortnite emote in a $40 purple shirt and $500 sunglasses he stole from a Netflix set
kind of expecting them to lean into the single player aspect of the ip going forward because theres absolutely an audience for it. maybe do something like shaolin monks 2? lol
I feel the gore is getting to a point where it feels just gross. like pushing the boundaries of something u want to see. it used to be fun. some still have some fun in them but the characters being so life like makes it much more atomach churning. it was a cool with MKX but its wearing thin a slightly exaggerated artstyle would be a good breather for the series.
Speaking as former NRS enjoyer, still appreciate a broadness of cultural cover MK has. Hell, where i'm from mortal kombat is kinda household name and it being such a approachable FGC gateway is great. That said, if you invested in the series corporate and developer decisions from one game to another make the parting from it quite bitter.
Very interesting perspective. I like that thought about it being what it always have been but more so. I see it as somewhat if an “L” since I was hoping the community would be more willing to play the game for longer.
if they could make another game like mkx but put it on the never ending support like xenoverse 2 i bet they'd make money. fast pace combat with a run mechanic a lobby to fight elder gods in bring back that faction stuff instead of a battle pass make it a krypt again you earn in game currency to open krypts again. then again im no game dev
Feels weird saying this as someone who doesn't do a ton of singleplayer stuff but I almost feel they should lean into singleplayer more like substantially more. I'm really curious what that could look like. I'm only one person but I feel like I get little to no value from the competitive side of mk and I don't think I'm the only one looking at the numbers. Currently to me it feels like it's almost half assing both the competitive side and the singleplayer side. That said I'd be interested to see them leaning more competitive too I just don't expect that at all.
I want to like this series more but sometimes the features aren't as strong as they seem on paper. MK has a strong history of making sure you have plenty to do via single player content but the multiplayer suite can leave a lot to be desired. MKX's PC port issues especially when it comes to their online still annoys me to this day. I waited on buying MK1 to see if issues came up and sure enough, the barebones online experience turned me off buying this game. At this point, I am happy for people who still enjoy MK but I've given up getting into this series.
At this point I'd love NRS to go back doing actual single player stuff. Maybe not developed by their 'A' team but I always liked their adventure/beat-em up games of the past to some degree (Mythologies, Special Forces, MK Shaolin monks).
i can't help but be a bit sad for the franchise. i really like the stuff in it and there's an ideal version of the lore, mechanics, roster and features that is attainable but we have never gotten, and i feel we never will. like basically everything ran by WB at the moment, MK's gonna suffer heavily from their mismanagement and drive away longer time fans to become fighting game's version of Fifa, but i can only hope that like MK1, the team behind the gameplay keeps cooking some amazing stuff even when the final produt is rushed to meet a deadline or whatever
As a long time fan of the series since the og MK on the SNES, I legit wish for both WB and NRS to get back to the drawing board and move the series past the consumerist pop-culture/mass market mentality. As I grow older the MK brand of shock and pop culture appeal no longer holds me, I want the game I play to offer more. The subsequent games since MK9/MKX have become worse and worse in terms of the game feel, the story is a shadow of what it used to be in it's peak in the Klassic and 3D era, and the way they have been turning the series into a live-action slop where you have to grind and play on the asigned time intervals to even unlock a skin palette is awful. I legit want MK to evolve beyond this, to become the respected violent competitive fighter with cool charcaters and a interesting universe/lore that I know it can be. But unfortunately, that will not happen under it's current owners/developers. The franchise is a mess.
Hahah okay on that concurrent player list, I legitimately thought MK 11, was MK 2, like the OG MK 2 From back in the day lol Interesting marketing topic. The thing is, this is the exact business model that may not hold up, especially now with diminishing returns and the slow economy. Not unless their budgets get smaller but the casual audience will feel the quality drop if that happens.
Mortal Kombat never had deep and engaging enough base combat mechanics to support a serious competitve scene without outside support from NRS. Hot take, MK and Injustice feel more like Party fighters than even Smash Bros. They are made for casual fun first and competitive balance second. They do not give a fuck about any legacy skill nor gameplay pace. 'Hollywood fighter' is a very apt description.
MK and KOF are both polar extreme opposites of how FGs have gone in the past few years in regards of developer focus. KOF:Pretty good competitive game, diehard solid tournament fanbase. Terrible videogame as a product and to get into casually, borderline zero to do outside of labbing and netplaying and even at that LOTS of shortcomings compared to the others. MK: Very good value product as a videogame (in paper at least) easy to hook people in, but an ATROCIOUS competitive side that switch between "being a dead scene and complaining about it instead of organizing" or if they DO organize "One of the biggest and most obnoxious plagues that have assaulted the gaming landscape" The worrying part is that what MK is doing feels a LOT like where arcsys and capcom are slowly creeping into following, maybe not the NRS cycle per se, but small drops of the WB playbook, where the discourse and patches are the only thing giving games a pulse. I should probably feel terrible for the poor fucks competing in NRS games because its both a $60+ heist that NRS/WB accelerate to fleece em with, and also Sonicfox's funnel for lunch money. But then I remember it IS the MK scene and any sympathy OR empathy goes up in smoke (Same for Tekken people with twitterfingers but I digress) so, fuck em but also be wary of others copying the formula.
Probably an unpopular opinion, but I would love for fighting games to return to their "yearly" update-cycle (think KoF series, SF2 saga). I am honestly not feeling this whole "games as a service" thing, tons of DLC, packs whatever, constant updates and changes... I am a dad now (40+), working full time, having two kids - I don't got the time and energy to keep up with the everchanging world of modern fighting games (especially not when so many interesting (and kinda odd) oldies get re-released - shoutouts to SvC Chaos and Rage of Dragons) not to mention other great games outside the FG-spectrum. So, I can certainly see an appeal in the way MK might have yearly "fire and forget" releases and doesn't really bother with being hardcore competetive.
At the start I thought MK1 was going in an interesting direction with the system The problems at the start might be why people at least on PC went back to MK11 Even with the complaints the experience was unfortunately better previously
It might be more of the same, but it's also the opposite of what they wanted and what they promised. Casuals rejected the game so they HAVE to move on.
I don't think casuals rejected the game, it still sold 4+ mil in the first 6 months, just longer term not as successful as previous projects. But to your point, if they just move onto the next one faster and those same fans come back every time? If they re use assets they probably come out positive
As someone who played all the PS2 MKs, I just feel sad knowing that no MK can give me that urge of opening a game on a random night and just playing arcade mode. You know…..the same feeling third strike gives me
As much as i love mk and grew up with it, i have to let this franchise go. WB is just such a scummy company i'm tired of supporting them as a consumer. There are just so many good fighting game options these days its hard for me to justify 70$ unfinished game with no lobby's and will only have a year of support. Plus Khaos reigns price was just crazy 💀
They need to go back to mk deadly alliance and make the games filled with content and calm down with the mechanics. I’ll be happy with weapon stances like deadly alliance and deception
loved the MK2 soundtrack on te bg, and I'm currently hating how WB is trating MK, M1K felt horrible coming from 11 and that one felt even worse coming from XL xD I'd hate MK become even sloppier but that seems to be the future of the franchise
IMO, MK is what it always has been. Call of duty for fighting games. There's always been another MK right around the corner. MK1 sold poorly relative to 11 because they lacked in things for casuals to do. Tons of people I interact with who dont play fighting games still play MK.
It almost feels like they caught wind of the production rate of Street Fighter 2 and are trying to keep up with the flood from the 90's. I've personally never really been into Mortal Kombat aside from playing the original a couple times years ago. I'm just not a fan of the gore, which has only gotten far worse with the advent of 3D and the literally mind numbing of the employees working on it. I'm just here, sitting atop the Street Fighter 6 pile happily with my great game and watching the new Mortal Kombat appear as a disaster from a casual sales and offhand competitive perspectives.
MK11 Evo entrants in year 1 was 1600. MK1 Evo entrants in year 1 500. What happened? Where did everyone go lol. It also doesn't help the competitive scene when they literally can't even sell the game in big Asian markets like Japan, South Korea and China.
Mortal Kombat has always been the western version of those Naruto and non DBFZ Dragonball games dressed up a more as a "legit" fighting game. It's always been for the casuals. It's up to you if you feel insulted by that or not.
Ive tried to like NRS' games so badly, but I just cant get on board with the rosters, gameplay and just isnt for me. Id love to have my mind changed but since IJ1 these games just arent for me ig
MK10 11 and 1 have been very contradicting games. 11 sold so well and is more popular then 10 and 1, and had a bigger prize pool. But mechanically it's not great for a competitive scene with the amount of cheap spam that's allowed in it. I'm told MK1 is harder to play even though characters can do so much. But outside of mechanics it was made for a casual audience um, who like 80s movie icons lol. And 10 was hardcore as hell but considered the best modern MK.
I mean forgive my skepticism but I don't entirely believe a company as fucked up as WB isn't willing to just go back on their word on "only focusing on 4 game franchises including MK" and sweep it under the rug, I wouldn't trust that company as far as I could throw the CEO.
My gripes with NRS games is that they have a very short shelf life compared to other fighting games. MK11 and 1 just aren't very fun to watch as a spectator, so I'm just not interested in those games in general. The series has fell off with how the gameplay just isn't as fun as it used to be.
When a fighting game has to use characters not original to there roster to sell its an issue. You should be able to put name to faces in games like mortal kombat and should be able to get everyone excited. But mortal kombat doesnt do that and use famous characters to bring in people. Which yes it does sell but it wont sell to the community you have. You can appease to a new community but never forget the community you built. They’ve forgotten there original fans for causal fans. Which will cause dlc not to sell.
Apologies for the wall of text in advance, but I have been an MK head for basically my entire life ever since MKII on the SNES, and I'm pretty conflicted on the general direction they may be going. On one hand, even though MK is generally referred to as the "CoD of fighting games", unlike CoD, MK genuinely experiments a lot when it comes to new mechanics and changing up previous version of characters. Sure, Street Fighter or whatever other game might be something more designed for competitive players per se, but MK as an actual game I've always found a lot more refreshing since their experimentation, while sometimes leading to very strange mechanics and balance such as launch MK1, always give each entry a unique feel, and for the time that I enjoy the game, I really do enjoy them. For example, a few specific characters aside, I thought MK11 was an incredibly fun game, and the amount of labbing of combos and strategies I did in that game might be the the most I've done for any fighting game. Not to bash SF too much since I do like the series as well, but I literally cannot bring myself to play SF6 anymore cause no part of the game brings me joy when it comes to exploration of the game. SF6 feels like a game to be solved, and more or less, I understand the game that the devs want us to be playing. MK1 on the other hand, yeah I don't play it anymore either but when I was playing it, the range of player expression and weird shit was genuinely cool in a way that few modern fighting games achieve. Now obviously, again, the balance kinda fucked that player expression since there were some insanely overtuned outliers such as Cage and Cyrax, but as a whole package, it felt like a game with a crazy amount of potential. So with all of that said, do I want MK games to live longer so they can be explored more while also being the main, relevant title for the NRS scene? Or do I want MK games to kinda just go for a new idea, let it cook for a bit, and then move on to the next one? I'll be honest, I basically don't play fighting games anymore so for me, the latter option sounds enticing since I can just play the new game, cook some stuff up, and then drop it when I'm bored, but the former does allow for these weird ass games to have more time to be fully cracked open, which is the stuff I find the most fun about MK overall. Basically, I'm fine with either direction, but I do think I would still prefer the games to be allowed to have longer lifespans. I know a lot of people didn't love MK11, but I genuinely really enjoyed that game, and the later in its life it got, the more interesting I found it overall. Plus, MK11 having a proper amount of time to cook really allowed it to feel like a full video game package, which I think MK1 is embarrassingly not even close to, and I don't think any fighting game has matched MK11 yet as a casual fighting game package. So yeah, give more times for each entry in the series to cook so they can be something fresh and exciting each time while also being a fully fleshed out experience.
How about none? It had its time and is now irrelevant. It's that kid that peaked in high school and is now 40 and trying to recapture those glory days while everyone else moved on. Let it go.
Screw it let ed boon move to japan Sell MK to a japanese developer and call him ed san😂 First MK at some point will be sold as a franchise to new ownership just looking at trends But seriously MK needs to exist within the fgc and fighting games as a whole way better than it has been.The franchise for what it is,is still great overall.They set themselves back with many things including(gameplay,systems etc.)not appealing to an audience outside of north/south america and little EU. They are also currently banned in other countries or have strict laws about the purchase of there game and very little marketing geared towards other’s countries not mentioned.Look Mk is a unique game but why not appeal to the largest consumers if fighting games…Other fighting games player bases. In doing so add features that will bring together a bigger audience to your game like no gore feature and holding back to block(which exists in injustice) and maybe some combo systems that exist in other games MK can still be unique off of design alone and doesnt have to be this varied 2D game with weird controls.and In doing this MK holds on to it popularity and doesnt get looked down upon by the people/community who specifically plays these types of games.
@@doogies Do u think it would have more staying power if it had a more dedicated fgc/comp player base like other games?(i know currently they dont care about that)but whats your veiw like for real.
T7 is among the top 10 of all time with 5 times more sales than T8. Nobody is playing T7 over T8. So it's a massive failure to have people prefer the older title for MK. Say and call me whatever you want. If they continue down this trend of absolutely uglifying their female characters, MK won't be for anyone and will continue to downward spiral. Make men masculine, make women feminine because that's what does and always has appealed to human sensibilities. A fundamental marketing concept that MK understood since the beginning, but Ed Boon apparently forgot. Trying to appeal to guys by bringing in the most iconic badasses in media doesn't work if the supposed eye candy is frankly repulsive to look at.
That is not the issue. The fact that MK1 was unfinished, had a shit story, had no single player content, and has the low shelf life of every MK game is the true reason
@@doogies For what? Pointing out the very obvious elephant in the room that sex sells? Do the opposite, and you will get the opposite results, especially when appealing to a casual audience. But sure pretend like I'm on some wild take here as if everyone hasn't known this for literally thousands of years. You'll notice WB games do this quite often to their IP's. They don't respect what came before, instead using their games as a springboard for their own messaging. Or do you think that Suicide squad and Gotham Knights were spiritual successors to the Arkham games? I wonder why those games didn't sell well at all when every character they make looks uglier than the last. Why did Concord flop in a week and Marvel Rivals is sailing to the moon? Big mystery for you apparently. I took exactly one look at MK1 and knew it would flounder especially compared to it's older titles. I'm glad the average consumer is not nearly so blind to that obvious fact.
I genuinely think you are on to something with that celebrity death match idea. It would be like a fortnite of fighting games that I really think would draw in a casual crowd. And, it would be a way for companies to hype up the latest movie or film. I know many folks often cringe at the idea of things like fortnite or cod, but sometimes playing some brain rot games can be fun.
It feels to me that ed boon found the monkey paw and wished he could keep making mortal kombat
Has nothing to do with Ed Boon. Has everything to do with money. Investors want them moneys, and MK is safe and risk-averse, and WB will pick the least risky option that can make the most money with the least funding. I'm sorry to go all "capitalism bad", but that's the reality of the situation.
@@unga_bunga_fgc I think yall are both saying the same thing lol
@@unga_bunga_fgc the idea that MK is now safe and risk adverse says a lot about where we've gone since the 90s lol
@@casbalt7763 I mean I guess so.but it's kind of just mass hypocrisy no? I mean we would xenomorphs, predator & robocop back then but suddenly a blue ninja copying the predator head rip is a big no no.
Tldr: "concerned" parents = hypocrites
@@moopersworthninjason42nd81 i mean the games for robocop and stuff were significantly toned down from their movie incarnations. But you are correct the parents and activist groups at the time were severely overreacting to the current boogyman at the time. For instance the other game they were mad at was night trap for enouraging violence against women. Despite the fact that the point of the game was to save the girls lol.
MK has become like the WCW of fighting games
I misread that as CWC...
Kombat Pack Of Doom
Love this comparison.
All we need now is David Arquette as a guest character and it'd be complete
@@LtheOriginal Kevin Nash DLC and his intro is breaking all the quads
"Less of a fighting game made for competitive fighting game players, more of a product for players that want to play a fighting game" that's it you nailed it!. I've been trying to find a way to explain that to people for years but i could'nt find it in the simplest form. the MK series for a very long time has just been a product for consumers to play short term while the actual competitive aspect is so low on the priority list
its a game for consumers, not players...imo (no disrespect). also whatup
@@doogies Theres just been two bad ones. I think youre trying to be overly critical for content. MKX and prior had fine skill expression and competitive scenes the newer ones just sucked. In contrast to Injustice which kept the exact same identity, MK opted to change gameplay style and system mechanics 3 times in 3 games, badly. The point is: focusing on whether its a casual game or competitive game is why they fell off. Constantly saying "mk was never serious like street fighter" is why they keep taking it in a more boring skilless direction than it used to be NOT because the playerbase is casual but because they seriously think IT IS WHATS COMPETITIVE.
Comparing MK to Call of Duty is pretty apt. I've played MK games casually since the SNES. To me, they are all about the spectacle of the individual game. IIRC MK games always appealed more to the casual market and have included lots of single-player focused content like mingames, the Krypt, a huge focus on story mode, and other features which have much more appeal to the large casual audience than a strict focus on the competitive scene. I have enjoyed the last three MK games, but I never considered for a moment spending time to grind and get good at them. To me, they were games to pick up, explore the single-player stuff, mess around in vs mode for a bit, then dip until the next content patch.
They really should leave it on a shelf for 3-5 years imo
more like 3-30
A good 4-5 years without Mortal Kombat will be a much needed break.
Ten, also fire everyone
@@hefestos002half right fire everyone.
Nothing a timeline redo won’t fix in 3 years. They’ve done it like 2 times already
MK is trapped in a time loop. Every time they reach the end of John Tobias' lore, the story goes off the rails and they have to reboot.
Now they've rebooted MK into being an assist game with a multiverse bs. There was no reason for MK9 to rush through the lore of the first 3 games except for the fact that Ed Boon can't expand the lore.
Every time Ed Boon paints himself into corner, reboot. I bet you a dollar that this multiverse crap gets rebooted back to the original MK storyline. Time loop...
MK1 immediately pivoting to multiverse slop when it was supposed to be the New Era was the clearest sign that they've just given up trying to do anything new or interesting.
@@JoelBurger MK has a built in flaw. Killing off its characters is their main selling point. If you can't write new stories and can't design new, interesting characters, you probably shouldn't be killing off the characters you already have just to be "edgy".
Same thing goes for gameplay. MK10 was good. Why did they reboot the core gameplay instead of building on the MK10 formula?
@@similaritiesendhere Because part of that core gameplay was wearing out its welcome after so long. 3 different 'load outs' per character was nice but why put so much work when some of those load outs are not even fleshed out? Though I will argue that part of the appeal of MKX to me was it played 'fast' like some anime fighters. Though the run mechanic hooked up some chars. The slower it played the more of the 'core' mechanics seem to get exposed like NRS projectile zoning.
@@t4d0W Remove the loadouts and give the characters all their moves. Then balance that. Make the variant outfits unlockables. Problem solved.
Ed Boon doesn't know what he's doing. He's not a lore creator. He's not a fighting game designer. He's a salesman masquerading as both. He couldn't balance MK11 so he made an assist game (which is way harder to balance). That tells me that everyone at NetherRealms is scared to tell him when he's wrong.
God I hope it does get rebooted because this mcu multiverse bullshit needs to go.
The term "Celebrity Death Match" brought a tear to my eye🥹. That was a fun show.
MK being a fighting game product sounds like American cheese is a cheese based product.
It kind of is. A lot of people are too young to remember this but MK was conceived because they thought SF2 sucked. That's why you have easy commands for special moves, block button and no cross ups.
Basically Ed Boon and John Tobias got washed in Street Fighter 2 and decided to make MK out of salt. It's ironic because you have some of the biggest scrubs that play MK and MK only. People who still don't block, still jump to move their character and only goes for uppercuts.
Imo a good fighting game can last almost a decade.
if its really good? longer
Melee, Third Strike, MvC 2 and UMvC3 have been going on for a while now.
Bro when 3S had more people in attendance than MK1 in it's first year and VF5 R.E.V.O. Open Beta has more Twitch viewers and casual tournaments than your new season, you're cooked.
Those games are old as fuck. Legacy games for sure but that SHOULDN'T happen. Can you imagine if SFV or 4 saw more players than it's current game? It's not normal.
@@doogiesfax
Mortal Kombat is the Mcdonald's of fighting games.
It's fast food slop for the masses.
It's not meant to be a beloved fighting game, it's supposed to be Call of Duty.
That’s the funny thing about MK1. This was supposed to be the longest supported one in order to actually break the 2 year cycle until it got axed by WB. They even took extra time to develop this game compared to the others (granted half of this game’s development was during Covid). They also experimented the most with their characters in this game as well to make them more unique gameplay-wise. I see this as a massive L and people saying that the silver lining is that we’ll get the next game sooner are painfully wrong. Like it’s gonna be more of the same shit that we complain about with every release. We’re gonna get another rushed half baked game on launch again because 2 years isn’t enough time to fully flesh out and develop a game, and then when the game actually starts to get decent NRS/WB will stop supporting it because the 2 years are up. Every NRS game has been like this. There’s no monetary incentive for their higher ups at WB to have long standing support either because a new MK is always gonna outsell expansions (just look at Khaos Reigns). This isn’t to say that NRS is completely blameless here, but WB and whatever contract they have with NRS is killing this franchise more than anything else. It’s become WB’s franchise more than it is Ed Boon’s.
mk9 on current consoles and ill never need another nrs game tbh
Growing up an MK fan since it started I had to come to terms a while ago that NRS are movie makers. They’re making entertainment a la WWE. Bamco, Capcom for example are more like MMA -they are still fighting game makers first and the products clearly reflect that.
MK has become the one night stand of fighting games.
facts
1:53 wow! I didnt know mk11 was the 2nd best selling fighting game!
Hating on Smash smh my head
@@brightonicmost people dislike chomos
Covid sales buff
Immortal Slopfest
don't you feel like they've just slowly sucked all the personality out of Mortal Kombat since MKX, and I'm stating the obvious to say it's a massive shame for a series where personality was the massive strong point
Hmmm. What is the major difference. Like what aspect of the personality in your opinion gone?
It's still gory.
Plot I'm wary of because people hated Kombat kids, hated the Johnny cage push and hated how lui kang was done dirty in 9. So hate for the plot is still there.
What's so different from a personality perspective?
Idk if I agree. I hear this complaint about almost every fighter. So I think it's mostly just gonna come down to what aspects of a games "identity" you respond to. Cause IMO, I think MK1's visual identity is much stronger than MKX or 11, but plenty of people would disagree with that too.
@@Donte0930 Mostly that the fantasy weird shit is kinda getting more and more 'realistic'. There's SOME return to that in MK1, esp with a lot of the interactions with the outworld chars in story mode, but it feels constrained.
@@voidkirb5477 do you think maybe its because of how high fidelity the graphics are now ?
Yes, it's slowly lost it's heart and personality
Thanks for shining a light
We the consumer shape how the company is going to strategize. If we the consumer don't want to buy season passes and iap purchase drops constantly after the initial release, then the studio isn't going to waste their time and money making them. If we the consumer want the whole package upfront for a single payment, then that's what the studio will give us. What that means though is a much shorter life cycle for each game since the studio doesn't have enough incentive to update the game post release.
Sadly that's not the reality. Most companies just shrug their shoulders and throw that in the vault if people stop buying stuff. Heck people DO support stuff and games still get put on ice.
Look how long it's been since Mega Man 11 came out or how Melty Blood continued to give out free content updates despite having 10 people still playing it. There really is no telling these days.
@@tokyobassist Yeah most companies put games on ice or change their business model when people don't buy enough stuff to warrant updating the game. Thats what I said.
Having conversations about MK is usually hard since they're rarely ever objective due to the bad image it has in the fgc.
With that said, as someone who has bought all of the games since MK vs DC, and took the competitive side seriously since MK11, seeing MK decline in real time makes me a bit sad. MK11 was a great product but not very fun for most people, while I find MK1 fun when I play, but it's not a good product.
As a developer myself, I have a lot of empathy for the teams at NRS, as I know they really care about the IP, and every day I wish that WB let it go. I currently don't play MK1 very much compared to other fighting games, and moving forward it will be hard to justify buying another game if this season 3 cancellation is true. MK is very dear to me and I'm tired of the IP being pimped rather than handled properly.
only gonna get worse it seems
The most annoying part of MK following a COD-esque 1 year cycle, is that its the fighting game series most allergic to legacy. So if you really click with the newest game's assortment of mechanics and roster, the next one might be entirely different.
Case in point, MK11(which i hated) to MK1(which i really enjoy)
Or for a character specific example, Rain in MK11 to Rain in MK1 are completely different characters in nearly every way except element
And that kinda sucks that the version you click with, just gets dropped in 1 or 2 years by NRS, while also dealing with their insanely selective communication practices and odd balancing decisions throughout that initial year or 2 of support
They just gotta add wallbreaks like Strive, revolutionize the genre like Daisuke did with wallbreaks & no oki.
4:52, I’d buy that game! That’s what I’d make if I were a Warner brother.
Weird that they haven't made big budget version of Terrordrome
WB Games sinking as a company is slowly sinking even their best video game developers. Rocksteady made 3 God tier Batman games then fell off hard with Suicide Squad, and NRS has slowly lost the plot the last few years. The fact the NRS dive is not harder is actually impressive when every other media at Time Warner / Discovery is in the toilet.
All they had to do was make Shaolin Monks 2 which improves on every aspect of the original, with more locales to explore, secrets to find, and characters to play
Mk is the Cod or FIFA of fighting games
You're right, having a 3rd fightin game with movie ips that lean more horror/action would just be good.
They just need to do a crossover fighter as a standalone. Shake up mechanics a bit, push it like a Smash game, many people are sick of the modern MK brand
They have the crossover characters to sell it, just lean MORE into that
Hope this train stays on rails long enough for WB to really have to go into the tank for guest characters. Truth be told, as much as I enjoyed the Conan films and have respect for the influence Conan stories had on fantasy media of the last, like, bazillion years this character was a real head-scratcher for me.
I'm trying to get to the day where they're rooting around in the couch cushions for includes, having given up on MK storytelling in favor of having Captain Planet square up with Huckleberry Hound. When that day comes I'm gonna be grinding whatever monetization method they've implemented, trying to grime out zoomers with the Top Cat assist.
It is what it is I suppose. But they are risking wearing out the franchise. Anyhow, as long as there are gen-x and millenials breathing, Mortal Kombat will be a thing.
The moment the financials reflect its wearing out the sooner NRS/WB games will act on it.
I just want Shaolin monks 2
It makes perfect sense but it is also kind of funny how oldheads would just embrace and expect 6-12 month cycles for new games/versions with no post-launch to now expecting multiple years of support for a single game for it to be considered legit.
I get the feeling Ed was being serious when he said he wanted to support this game for much longer, especially given they gave it an extra 2 years in the oven with no IJ3 in the middle. WB execs are truly clowns.
The biggest shame is MK1 went from meh at launch (but still leagues better than MK11) to a game that is super fun. MK9 and MKX are still the pinnacle of NRS for me but man it is a shame to see them have to throw in the towel so soon when this game could have become something truly special with another year or two of changes.
The same way Batman can have the Arkham series and show up for Injustice, I'd like to see something like that for MK, make an action game spinoff that's even more in-depth than the old Shaolin Monks game was, explore Outworld as either an established character like Kung Lao or even a new character that will show up for the next fighting game, battling monsters, ninja, cyborgs etc.
Hell WB is currently sitting on that Nemesis System from their LOTR action games and that would be perfect to implement here as well.
If they are going the call of duty route, I wonder if this means that WB will assign another studio or two to work on the next game while the current one is out and have them all play leapfrog. Or force the burden all onto Ed.
I haven't seen the video, yet.
Yes.
the thing to me i guess is WB games HATE legacy. They could literally pump up the MK name again just by releasing a new MK collection of games 1-4 and get good buzz around the IP again. but they wont do it. Midway arcade classics across the board will be lucky to be rereleased in any form. the last time they were it was for a LEGO GAME EXPANSION i am not kidding.
Capcom is pumped out 3 great collections (beat em up bundle, Fighting Collection, MVC collection, without even counting capcom stadium) with a 4th coming.
And im the only one waited for character creation just because of final chapter in the original Story mode, and I wish that should be part of final update before next MK game and after last DLC too
i feel NRS has already proves that they can at least *make* crossover conglomerated game with both Injustices. theyve made some of the best looking iterations of DC characters to ever exist, then a few years later its Johnny Cage doing a fortnite emote in a $40 purple shirt and $500 sunglasses he stole from a Netflix set
they should go all the way and make a t-rated hollywood kombat game
I'll see yall at the next reboot
I love your discussions
Thanks for watchin
kind of expecting them to lean into the single player aspect of the ip going forward because theres absolutely an audience for it. maybe do something like shaolin monks 2? lol
Love the thumbnail
Id really like to see MK move away from the realistic looking art style and character design and do something more stylized like SF, GG, KOF
I feel the gore is getting to a point where it feels just gross. like pushing the boundaries of something u want to see. it used to be fun. some still have some fun in them but the characters being so life like makes it much more atomach churning. it was a cool with MKX but its wearing thin
a slightly exaggerated artstyle would be a good breather for the series.
Speaking as former NRS enjoyer, still appreciate a broadness of cultural cover MK has. Hell, where i'm from mortal kombat is kinda household name and it being such a approachable FGC gateway is great. That said, if you invested in the series corporate and developer decisions from one game to another make the parting from it quite bitter.
Yeah man I get it.
Very interesting perspective.
I like that thought about it being what it always have been but more so.
I see it as somewhat if an “L” since I was hoping the community would be more willing to play the game for longer.
At first I thought the same but actually if this means they churn the next one out, it probably works out BETTER for top .01% of community
we haven’t gotten to the goty edition announcement part of the nrs life cycle sadge
Maybe that's now fast forwarded to right before the new game drop
if they could make another game like mkx but put it on the never ending support like xenoverse 2 i bet they'd make money. fast pace combat with a run mechanic a lobby to fight elder gods in bring back that faction stuff instead of a battle pass make it a krypt again you earn in game currency to open krypts again.
then again im no game dev
Feels weird saying this as someone who doesn't do a ton of singleplayer stuff but I almost feel they should lean into singleplayer more like substantially more. I'm really curious what that could look like.
I'm only one person but I feel like I get little to no value from the competitive side of mk and I don't think I'm the only one looking at the numbers. Currently to me it feels like it's almost half assing both the competitive side and the singleplayer side. That said I'd be interested to see them leaning more competitive too I just don't expect that at all.
I agree!
I wanted MKX 2 instead of MVCI.
Same man, it looks so cool and I want to love playing it but having to think about assists just kills all my interest
T1000 is the last dlc but this pack is the last one.
4:49, You mean like Multiversus?
Freddy Jason alien predator etc not in that
They have a casual audience yet it feels like they've been catering more towards esports since mk11.
The irony is players have been bitching about reduced prize pools the past 4 years
i really wish Warner Bros would go out of business
MK reverting back to the arcade cycle?
Ok! I'd give Ultimate Mortal Kombat 1 a shot next year.
Casual game for 13 year old casual gamers. MK has always been a joke/casual fighting game and that's ok.
I want to like this series more but sometimes the features aren't as strong as they seem on paper. MK has a strong history of making sure you have plenty to do via single player content but the multiplayer suite can leave a lot to be desired. MKX's PC port issues especially when it comes to their online still annoys me to this day. I waited on buying MK1 to see if issues came up and sure enough, the barebones online experience turned me off buying this game. At this point, I am happy for people who still enjoy MK but I've given up getting into this series.
At this point I'd love NRS to go back doing actual single player stuff. Maybe not developed by their 'A' team but I always liked their adventure/beat-em up games of the past to some degree (Mythologies, Special Forces, MK Shaolin monks).
@@t4d0W I like this but I get the feeling WB only wants NRS to focus on MK as a fighting game as historically their mainline games sell the best.
i can't help but be a bit sad for the franchise. i really like the stuff in it and there's an ideal version of the lore, mechanics, roster and features that is attainable but we have never gotten, and i feel we never will. like basically everything ran by WB at the moment, MK's gonna suffer heavily from their mismanagement and drive away longer time fans to become fighting game's version of Fifa, but i can only hope that like MK1, the team behind the gameplay keeps cooking some amazing stuff even when the final produt is rushed to meet a deadline or whatever
I love Caroline Rose
It sounds like MK should just be an anime arena fighter like Sparking Zero or Ninja Storm series lol.
You are closer to the truth than you realize
i heard somewhere that NRS games are for people who don't play fighting games which makes sense
It's a fighting product versus a fighting game
As a long time fan of the series since the og MK on the SNES, I legit wish for both WB and NRS to get back to the drawing board and move the series past the consumerist pop-culture/mass market mentality.
As I grow older the MK brand of shock and pop culture appeal no longer holds me, I want the game I play to offer more. The subsequent games since MK9/MKX have become worse and worse in terms of the game feel, the story is a shadow of what it used to be in it's peak in the Klassic and 3D era, and the way they have been turning the series into a live-action slop where you have to grind and play on the asigned time intervals to even unlock a skin palette is awful.
I legit want MK to evolve beyond this, to become the respected violent competitive fighter with cool charcaters and a interesting universe/lore that I know it can be. But unfortunately, that will not happen under it's current owners/developers. The franchise is a mess.
Hahah okay on that concurrent player list, I legitimately thought MK 11, was MK 2, like the OG MK 2 From back in the day lol
Interesting marketing topic. The thing is, this is the exact business model that may not hold up, especially now with diminishing returns and the slow economy. Not unless their budgets get smaller but the casual audience will feel the quality drop if that happens.
They already are, by the numbers.
But they keep buying! And if they pivot to more reused assets style development etc, prob can still make money
They gotta make an injustice game next
guess u didnt see the article covered in the video lol
@doogies DC was a part of IPs they want to focus on?
Mk1 got the pit fatality 😂
Mortal Kombat never had deep and engaging enough base combat mechanics to support a serious competitve scene without outside support from NRS.
Hot take, MK and Injustice feel more like Party fighters than even Smash Bros. They are made for casual fun first and competitive balance second. They do not give a fuck about any legacy skill nor gameplay pace. 'Hollywood fighter' is a very apt description.
I do not think thats true. Combat and meter mechanics, esp in 9 and X were interesting imo
MK and KOF are both polar extreme opposites of how FGs have gone in the past few years in regards of developer focus.
KOF:Pretty good competitive game, diehard solid tournament fanbase. Terrible videogame as a product and to get into casually, borderline zero to do outside of labbing and netplaying and even at that LOTS of shortcomings compared to the others.
MK: Very good value product as a videogame (in paper at least) easy to hook people in, but an ATROCIOUS competitive side that switch between "being a dead scene and complaining about it instead of organizing" or if they DO organize "One of the biggest and most obnoxious plagues that have assaulted the gaming landscape"
The worrying part is that what MK is doing feels a LOT like where arcsys and capcom are slowly creeping into following, maybe not the NRS cycle per se, but small drops of the WB playbook, where the discourse and patches are the only thing giving games a pulse.
I should probably feel terrible for the poor fucks competing in NRS games because its both a $60+ heist that NRS/WB accelerate to fleece em with, and also Sonicfox's funnel for lunch money. But then I remember it IS the MK scene and any sympathy OR empathy goes up in smoke (Same for Tekken people with twitterfingers but I digress) so, fuck em but also be wary of others copying the formula.
Probably an unpopular opinion, but I would love for fighting games to return to their "yearly" update-cycle (think KoF series, SF2 saga). I am honestly not feeling this whole "games as a service" thing, tons of DLC, packs whatever, constant updates and changes... I am a dad now (40+), working full time, having two kids - I don't got the time and energy to keep up with the everchanging world of modern fighting games (especially not when so many interesting (and kinda odd) oldies get re-released - shoutouts to SvC Chaos and Rage of Dragons) not to mention other great games outside the FG-spectrum. So, I can certainly see an appeal in the way MK might have yearly "fire and forget" releases and doesn't really bother with being hardcore competetive.
you basically already have a wack version of that
At the start I thought MK1 was going in an interesting direction with the system
The problems at the start might be why people at least on PC went back to MK11
Even with the complaints the experience was unfortunately better previously
It might be more of the same, but it's also the opposite of what they wanted and what they promised. Casuals rejected the game so they HAVE to move on.
I don't think casuals rejected the game, it still sold 4+ mil in the first 6 months, just longer term not as successful as previous projects.
But to your point, if they just move onto the next one faster and those same fans come back every time? If they re use assets they probably come out positive
I just want another kusoge ass Injustice game I have the most fun playing those games doing heinous shit
As someone who played all the PS2 MKs, I just feel sad knowing that no MK can give me that urge of opening a game on a random night and just playing arcade mode. You know…..the same feeling third strike gives me
as someone who also played those games....its crazy you would compare them to 3s lmao
@ I guess that is how you know that you grow up and know what is third strike and what is not third strike
tight
As much as i love mk and grew up with it, i have to let this franchise go. WB is just such a scummy company i'm tired of supporting them as a consumer. There are just so many good fighting game options these days its hard for me to justify 70$ unfinished game with no lobby's and will only have a year of support. Plus Khaos reigns price was just crazy 💀
They need to go back to mk deadly alliance and make the games filled with content and calm down with the mechanics. I’ll be happy with weapon stances like deadly alliance and deception
Apparently, the casuals players didn't really like the cameo stuff ? I don't really know much.
loved the MK2 soundtrack on te bg, and I'm currently hating how WB is trating MK, M1K felt horrible coming from 11 and that one felt even worse coming from XL xD
I'd hate MK become even sloppier but that seems to be the future of the franchise
Looking like its going true CoD/Madden route
IMO, MK is what it always has been. Call of duty for fighting games. There's always been another MK right around the corner. MK1 sold poorly relative to 11 because they lacked in things for casuals to do. Tons of people I interact with who dont play fighting games still play MK.
Exactly. I think it's fine. It's just gonna lean heavier into that direction imo
We need KI for the final blow xd
It almost feels like they caught wind of the production rate of Street Fighter 2 and are trying to keep up with the flood from the 90's.
I've personally never really been into Mortal Kombat aside from playing the original a couple times years ago. I'm just not a fan of the gore, which has only gotten far worse with the advent of 3D and the literally mind numbing of the employees working on it.
I'm just here, sitting atop the Street Fighter 6 pile happily with my great game and watching the new Mortal Kombat appear as a disaster from a casual sales and offhand competitive perspectives.
MK11 Evo entrants in year 1 was 1600. MK1 Evo entrants in year 1 500. What happened? Where did everyone go lol. It also doesn't help the competitive scene when they literally can't even sell the game in big Asian markets like Japan, South Korea and China.
It's always been more casual than competitive, it's just leaned harder into that over time
Mortal Kombat has always been the western version of those Naruto and non DBFZ Dragonball games dressed up a more as a "legit" fighting game. It's always been for the casuals. It's up to you if you feel insulted by that or not.
I'd say port over the MK arcade trilogy, MK9, retire.
Ive tried to like NRS' games so badly, but I just cant get on board with the rosters, gameplay and just isnt for me. Id love to have my mind changed but since IJ1 these games just arent for me ig
MK10 11 and 1 have been very contradicting games. 11 sold so well and is more popular then 10 and 1, and had a bigger prize pool. But mechanically it's not great for a competitive scene with the amount of cheap spam that's allowed in it. I'm told MK1 is harder to play even though characters can do so much. But outside of mechanics it was made for a casual audience um, who like 80s movie icons lol. And 10 was hardcore as hell but considered the best modern MK.
Bro what is this chart why is dragon ball kakarot in the list when its a single player RPG?
maaaan just give me shaolin monks 2 or a character action games and leave the fighting games on the shelf for a while
That would be a good play from them ngl, re use MK1 assets but make story mode shaolin monks 2 co op netplay
I mean forgive my skepticism but I don't entirely believe a company as fucked up as WB isn't willing to just go back on their word on "only focusing on 4 game franchises including MK" and sweep it under the rug, I wouldn't trust that company as far as I could throw the CEO.
its what they said
More of the same is fine but for the love of dogs, let me sit in training while matchmaking 😢
My gripes with NRS games is that they have a very short shelf life compared to other fighting games. MK11 and 1 just aren't very fun to watch as a spectator, so I'm just not interested in those games in general. The series has fell off with how the gameplay just isn't as fun as it used to be.
When a fighting game has to use characters not original to there roster to sell its an issue. You should be able to put name to faces in games like mortal kombat and should be able to get everyone excited. But mortal kombat doesnt do that and use famous characters to bring in people. Which yes it does sell but it wont sell to the community you have. You can appease to a new community but never forget the community you built. They’ve forgotten there original fans for causal fans. Which will cause dlc not to sell.
This is maybe what it always was though...
Apologies for the wall of text in advance, but I have been an MK head for basically my entire life ever since MKII on the SNES, and I'm pretty conflicted on the general direction they may be going. On one hand, even though MK is generally referred to as the "CoD of fighting games", unlike CoD, MK genuinely experiments a lot when it comes to new mechanics and changing up previous version of characters. Sure, Street Fighter or whatever other game might be something more designed for competitive players per se, but MK as an actual game I've always found a lot more refreshing since their experimentation, while sometimes leading to very strange mechanics and balance such as launch MK1, always give each entry a unique feel, and for the time that I enjoy the game, I really do enjoy them. For example, a few specific characters aside, I thought MK11 was an incredibly fun game, and the amount of labbing of combos and strategies I did in that game might be the the most I've done for any fighting game. Not to bash SF too much since I do like the series as well, but I literally cannot bring myself to play SF6 anymore cause no part of the game brings me joy when it comes to exploration of the game. SF6 feels like a game to be solved, and more or less, I understand the game that the devs want us to be playing. MK1 on the other hand, yeah I don't play it anymore either but when I was playing it, the range of player expression and weird shit was genuinely cool in a way that few modern fighting games achieve. Now obviously, again, the balance kinda fucked that player expression since there were some insanely overtuned outliers such as Cage and Cyrax, but as a whole package, it felt like a game with a crazy amount of potential.
So with all of that said, do I want MK games to live longer so they can be explored more while also being the main, relevant title for the NRS scene? Or do I want MK games to kinda just go for a new idea, let it cook for a bit, and then move on to the next one? I'll be honest, I basically don't play fighting games anymore so for me, the latter option sounds enticing since I can just play the new game, cook some stuff up, and then drop it when I'm bored, but the former does allow for these weird ass games to have more time to be fully cracked open, which is the stuff I find the most fun about MK overall. Basically, I'm fine with either direction, but I do think I would still prefer the games to be allowed to have longer lifespans. I know a lot of people didn't love MK11, but I genuinely really enjoyed that game, and the later in its life it got, the more interesting I found it overall. Plus, MK11 having a proper amount of time to cook really allowed it to feel like a full video game package, which I think MK1 is embarrassingly not even close to, and I don't think any fighting game has matched MK11 yet as a casual fighting game package. So yeah, give more times for each entry in the series to cook so they can be something fresh and exciting each time while also being a fully fleshed out experience.
depends on their direction. With Madden/Cod route, you might get more takes but less time to develop them
11 was arse and 1 is worse.
Live service gaming isn't a good model for gamers.
How about none? It had its time and is now irrelevant. It's that kid that peaked in high school and is now 40 and trying to recapture those glory days while everyone else moved on. Let it go.
competitively? I almost agree but as a game? casually? You are crazy lol
Screw it let ed boon move to japan Sell MK to a japanese developer and call him ed san😂
First MK at some point will be sold as a franchise to new ownership just looking at trends
But seriously MK needs to exist within the fgc and fighting games as a whole way better than it has been.The franchise for what it is,is still great overall.They set themselves back with many things including(gameplay,systems etc.)not appealing to an audience outside of north/south america and little EU. They are also currently banned in other countries or have strict laws about the purchase of there game and very little marketing geared towards other’s countries not mentioned.Look Mk is a unique game but why not appeal to the largest consumers if fighting games…Other fighting games player bases. In doing so add features that will bring together a bigger audience to your game like no gore feature and holding back to block(which exists in injustice) and maybe some combo systems that exist in other games MK can still be unique off of design alone and doesnt have to be this varied 2D game with weird controls.and In doing this MK holds on to it popularity and doesnt get looked down upon by the people/community who specifically plays these types of games.
MK does not need FGC. Its bigger than that
@@doogies Do u think it would have more staying power if it had a more dedicated fgc/comp player base like other games?(i know currently they dont care about that)but whats your veiw like for real.
I just wish the animations werent so awful and floaty. never buying mk again till they fix those
i wont be supporting any nrs product ever again.
I dont see myself doing so either, as the netplay exp for MK1 for me was unplayable
T7 is among the top 10 of all time with 5 times more sales than T8. Nobody is playing T7 over T8. So it's a massive failure to have people prefer the older title for MK. Say and call me whatever you want. If they continue down this trend of absolutely uglifying their female characters, MK won't be for anyone and will continue to downward spiral.
Make men masculine, make women feminine because that's what does and always has appealed to human sensibilities. A fundamental marketing concept that MK understood since the beginning, but Ed Boon apparently forgot. Trying to appeal to guys by bringing in the most iconic badasses in media doesn't work if the supposed eye candy is frankly repulsive to look at.
That is not the issue. The fact that MK1 was unfinished, had a shit story, had no single player content, and has the low shelf life of every MK game is the true reason
find god bro
@@doogies For what? Pointing out the very obvious elephant in the room that sex sells? Do the opposite, and you will get the opposite results, especially when appealing to a casual audience. But sure pretend like I'm on some wild take here as if everyone hasn't known this for literally thousands of years.
You'll notice WB games do this quite often to their IP's. They don't respect what came before, instead using their games as a springboard for their own messaging. Or do you think that Suicide squad and Gotham Knights were spiritual successors to the Arkham games? I wonder why those games didn't sell well at all when every character they make looks uglier than the last. Why did Concord flop in a week and Marvel Rivals is sailing to the moon? Big mystery for you apparently. I took exactly one look at MK1 and knew it would flounder especially compared to it's older titles. I'm glad the average consumer is not nearly so blind to that obvious fact.
I genuinely think you are on to something with that celebrity death match idea. It would be like a fortnite of fighting games that I really think would draw in a casual crowd.
And, it would be a way for companies to hype up the latest movie or film.
I know many folks often cringe at the idea of things like fortnite or cod, but sometimes playing some brain rot games can be fun.
It's not an original idea lol. We been saying this for 10+ years
5:04 why can conan reflect projectiles? That's wack 😂