Mortal Kombat X Microtransactions Exist, Are Gross

Players who have been craving a new entry in the infamous fighting game series will wait no longer, as Mortal Kombat X launched today on the PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS3 and Xbox 360. As such, everyone is rushing to try out all the new combos, alternative playstyles and, of course, the fatalities. Unfortunately for some, the fatality inputs are fairly difficult to master, resulting in opponents dropping to the ground before those elusive explosive finishers. Fortunately, for those looking to waste their money, Mortal Kombat X will sport some fairly egregious microtransactions to fix the “problem” the developers, themselves, created.

For $0.99, players can download 5 easy fatalities, allowing them to chop, maim, scorch, freeze and selfie their opponents to death, with easy inputs, and for glorious results. However, once those 5 fatalities have been entered, Mortal Kombat X fatalities revert back to standard. That’s why you can also buy 30 of these fatalities for $4.99, allowing you to pull off an extra 5 free non-gameplay bonus kills in style.

If Mortal Kombat X were a free-to-play game, this would be the perfect way to include microtransactions. There are no pay-to-win benefits from buying easy fatalities! Unfortunately, this is a full price, physical retail game that is also trying to charge $29.99 extra for just 4 additional characters, alongside some alternative character skins. Furthermore, some of these fatalities are hidden in “The Krypt,” where they and other in-game features are unlocked using in-game currency earned during play time. NetherRealm also has that covered, too, with the option to spend $19.99 to unlock everything from the get-go!

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Some will argue that these options are there to allow those with limited game time and money to burn the opportunity to play a full Mortal Kombat X right from Day 1. However, that doesn’t account for the fact that this game was developed in such a way to drive microtransaction purchases. The developers didn’t have to persuade people to spend money in order to unlock game content; as some point during the game’s production, that design choice was made. Unfortunately, when it results in the pressure to spend almost double the price of just Mortal Kombat X by itself at launch, many people won’t bother. With a “Komplete Edition” for Mortal Kombat 9 setting a precedent, I’m sure there are fans who will be willing to wait until a full Mortal Kombat X becomes actually affordable.

h/t Jeff Gerstmann

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