When Mortal Kombat X launches later this week, one of the biggest draws will be its multiplayer. Developer NetherRealm Studios recently set up the Mortal Kombat X Pro League to help foster the MK eSports community, while the new 'quitality' feature encourages Mortal Kombat X players to stay for the entire duration of their multiplayer match, as rage quitting will see them lose in grizzly fashion.

But last month players were disappointed to learn that Mortal Kombat X's multiplayer would be region locked and that players in one region (North America, Europe etc.) will be unable to fight against players in any other. The game's executive producer Shaun Himmerick revealed that to a fan in a (now deleted) tweet, saying that "region locks will be the same as injustice and MK9 were" with those games also developed by NetherRealm.

Fans who have gotten their hands on Mortal Kombat X thanks to retailer leaks have confirmed that the game is region locked, with one player writing on NeoGAF that "It really does suck not being able to play with our friend Karupt because of this tbh. Most of my buds are EU though, which is lucky I guess. Hoping for this lock to be patched out..."

Unfortunately, it isn't clear whether or not all console versions of the game are region locked or if it's just the PlayStation versions, as was the case with Injustice: Gods Among Us and Mortal Kombat 9. NetherRealm also hasn't confirmed if multiplayer will be locked to the region where the disc was bought (like it was with their other games) or if the game is region locked based on the location of the player and their console.

The region locking will be incredibly disappointing to MK fans who have played the Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection, as that compilation's developer, Other Ocean Interactive, did not region lock their game. It's also worth nothing that MK 9's multiplayer experience was less than ideal, with many players struggling to find opponents amidst inconsistent Internet connections.

It's being speculated that Mortal Kombat X is region locked so that there will be less stress on the game's servers and that NetherRealm will be able to avoid MK9's problems a second time around. Players with pre-release copies say that so far MKX's servers are holding up, but that may just be because few players are online.

Are you disappointed that Mortal Kombat X is region locked? Is this a decent trade-off if it means multiplayer will be stable? Leave a comment.

Mortal Kombat X comes out on April 14, 2015 for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions are coming later this summer.

Source: NeoGAF, Test Your Might