Gab Hernandez 
Mortal Kombat 11 achieved a 24-hour peak of over 10,000 players, compared to Mortal Kombat 1 only being over 6,000 player count. Is this a bad sign for the game?
Mortal Kombat 1 has received criticism for issues such as a lack of crossplay, inconsistent framerates, imbalanced Kombatants, and equally imbalanced Kameo characters. Most notably, the Nintendo Switch version featured much lower graphical quality and performance, prompting many players to rank it below previous versions of the game. Evidently, it’s not just Nintendo players that feel that way.
Mortal Kombat 11 has seen a sudden resurgence in popularity. Player counts for Mortal Kombat 11 are currently beating its successor, a surprising upset and one that might be an ill omen for Mortal Kombat 1.
Why did Mortal Kombat 11 beat Mortal Kombat 1’s concurrent player count on Steam?
A combination of Mortal Kombat 11 going on sale and offering a more stable experience has led many players to go back to the previous title.
Mortal Kombat 11 has been on sale for the last few months, going as low as $5 on Steam. On top of that, it’s a complete game with none of the launch day woes that many AAA titles experience. Players who can’t afford Mortal Kombat 1 also likely gave Mortal Kombat 11 a spin to see if the franchise is right for them.
For comparison, Street Fighter 6 peaked at over 20,000 players on Steam during this timeframe, while its predecessor. Street Fighter V sat at less than 500 players. While picking out a better game is a matter of opinion, Street Fighter 6 has not seen the same degree of fan complaints regarding technical and balance issues that Mortal Kombat 1 has.
Is Mortal Kombat 1 dead?
Mortal Kombat 1 has been a commercial success to this point and will likely be supported by NetherRealm Studios for years to come, so it is still alive and will be for a long while.
Mortal Kombat 1 is without a doubt a commercially successful entry into the Mortal Kombat franchise. It quickly climbed the sales charts in multiple markets in September, with only Starfield beating out the game. NetherRealm Studios is likely to iron out many of these issues over time and continue adding content far into the future.
Even with all the criticism levied against the game, it’s important to note that patches are still being released for Mortal Kombat 1. With the upcoming release of Omni-Man and Tremor, it’s likely the next patch will attempt to address the concerns laid out by the playerbase.
