Summary
Mortal Kombat 1is right around the corner. As one of the biggest fighting game franchises in the industry, the release of a new entry always brings fans, both new and old, back to the genre.Mortal Kombat 1is especially exciting because it is rebooting the franchise once again and introducing a plethora of gameplay changes, such as the addition of the Kameo system. With new mechanics, a huge roster, and a lot of excitement around the fighting game genre right now,MK1is primed for success. While most fighting game fans play casually,Mortal Kombathas a competitive scene, and the launch of a new game will certainly impact fighting game esports.
The pinnacle of competitive fighting games is the Evolution Championship Series, known colloquially as Evo. Founded by Tom Canon, one of the lead developers for Riot Game’s upcomingProject L, Evo began in California in 1996 under the name Battle By The Bay. Originally an approximately 40-personStreet Fightertournament, the event would eventually move to Las Vegas and expand, reaching over 1000 entrants by 2009. 2023 was the tournament’s biggest year, with the newly releasedStreet Fighter 6hosting over 7000 competitors.Mortal Kombat 11has been a staple of Evo since its release, but has been one of the event’s smallest tournaments these past few years with under 500 entrants.
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Mortal Kombat 1 Will Reinvigorate Competitive Play
While the most recentMortal Kombattournament at Evo was one of the event’s smallest, MK11had over 1500 players during its first year at the event. This drop-off can be attributed to a number of factors. NetherRealm fighting games tend to have a shorter lifecycle thanTekkenorStreet Fighter, but this one struggled (at least in the competitive realm).MK11focused a lot more on grounded and deliberate gameplay, similar to that ofStreet Fighter 5.It eventually became clear that each character had been simplified and had only a few optimal options at high-level play. This madecompetitiveMortal Kombat 11repetitive for many top players, and the surrounding community quickly shrunk in spite of the game’s overall commercial success.
Mortal Kombat 1seems to have learned from the faults ofMK11. The gameplay is, at least at first glance, more open-ended, and characters have a more diverse range of options.Kameo Fightersalso add new layers of depth and potential for player expression.Mortal Kombat 1is priming itself to have a more complex meta with plenty of room for player freedom, and with so many eyes on the genre at the moment, it could easily be the series' biggest entry. This enhanced freedom and room for expression should help create a vibrant competitive community around the game. Based on early impressions,Mortal Kombat 1has the potential to elevate the series' competitive scene to new heights.
Mortal Kombat 1 Faces Stiff Competition
The nextMortal Kombatgame is primed for success, but Evo 2024 isn’t for another 10 months after its release. While the game will almost certainly outperformMK11and pull the series' largest crowd at an Evo to date, the game faces stiff competition.Street Fighter 6is hugely popular, and its competitive scene is thriving.Tekken 8is also just months away. ForMortal Kombat 1to have a chance at being Evo 2024’s biggest game, it will have to sustain its competitive scene, and its developers will have to support it with carefully crafted patches and updates. Evo tournaments often reflect the competitive health of a title, so the months between launch and Evo 2024 will be crucial to the game’s player turnout at the event.
While predicting the state of competitiveMortal Kombatcome next year’s Evo is a tall task, it is almost certain that it will be the biggest tournament the series has seen in recent years. With the huge wave of growth aroundStreet Fighter 6and the genre in general, Evo 2024 will likely be the biggest Evo yet. Even ifSF6entrant numbers drop off,Tekken 8andMK1will likely more than make up for it.Fighting gameshave grown a lot this decade, andMortal Kombat 1will assuredly be an important part of the genre’s competitive scene for the foreseeable future.
Mortal Kombat1releases on September 19 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
