This week marks a special time that only comes around once every 5-7 years: the launch of a new generation of gaming consoles. The PS5 and Xbox Series X (along with their more cost-effective counterparts) launch this week and players seem to be on the edge of their seats in anticipation of their new consoles to arrive. And with so many new titles to explore like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Yakuza: Like a Dragon, it seems easy to see why these players have their expectations so high.
While these games have many players excited for the next generation of gaming, there is one genre that seems to have been left out of the celebration. It seems as though fighting games are lacking a distinct presence in the launch window of both of the new consoles. For example, one of the next-gen fighters that appears to be on most players' radars is Guilty Gear Strive, however, the latest entry in the Guilty Gear franchise won't be available on the PS5 until April 9, 2021. And while Killer Instinct is playable on the Xbox Series X through the system's backward compatibility, it did not receive a patch optimizing it for Xbox's new set of consoles.
There is one fighting game, however, that will be available for players to play in less than a week of the launch of their preferred new console. Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate will release on on November 17, 2020, and features a free upgrade from the base game version on Xbox One and PS4 to the next-gen consoles. Along with it, the Ultimate edition of the game comes with a variety of new content such as three characters: Rain, Rambo, and fan-favorite Mileena. This availability so soon after launch could mean major things for both Mortal Kombat as a franchise and NetherRealm Studios as a whole.
While some players may argue that Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate is just an enhanced version of the NetherRealm fighter that released in 2019, the new content that is being provided seems to give it enough legs as a standalone experience. Besides the new characters, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate is adding the ability to bring custom variations into the game's ranked mode. The idea of this feature was initially banned at Mortal Kombat 11's launch with some NetherRealm developers fearing this would cause the competitive scene to become unbalanced. This will give players an opportunity to expand their horizons and make the competitive experience more their own.
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate is helped even more with a larger than normal player base for a game launching on new consoles. This is due to Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate's cross play and cross-gen features, which will allow PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X players to all fight against one another online. It seems quite normal that player count would drop significantly over the course of a year, however, with these features in play it seems likely that players will have a similar experience finding opponents that was available during Mortal Kombat 11's initial launch.
It's through this dedication to improving on an already critically acclaimed game that could put NetherRealm in a great position in the next generation. Mortal Kombat is a historic fighting gaming franchise with it being one of the games credited with the formation of the ESRB. With its name carrying a similar amount of weight as that of a Street Fighter, players that have decided they wish to get into fighting games in this next generation will likely look at Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate as the best opportunity to jump in.
This success isn't guaranteed, however. Fighting games appear to have a somewhat difficult time drawing in players that are new to fighting games in general, and players that do enjoy playing fighting games typically seem to have a developer or series they prefer and tend not to stray. But with the limited options for new and/or improved fighting games on PS5 and Xbox Series X, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate seems to have the best opportunity of setting the tone for the next few years.
Mortal Kombat 11 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, and Xbox One. Versions for PS5 and Xbox Series X release on November 17, 2020.