Has NRS silenced the Mortal Kombat 1 critics?

[zerosebaz]

This discussion made me curious, so I looked up MKX's and MK11's sales numbers. Not the final ones, but the ones close to the one year mark:

Batman: Arkham Knight, Mortal Kombat X Sell 5 Million Each Worldwide, Report Says - GameSpot
Following The Disappointing Sales Of Street Fighter V Are We Any Closer To A Mortal Kombat Crossover? | ResetEra

MKX sold 5 million units in 6 months.
MK11 sold 8 million units in 8 months.

So I guess that if we can say that people like MK1 more than Tekken 8 and SF 6 because it outsold them, then we should also be able to say they like MK1 less than MKX and MK11 because they outsold it, right?

 

[iSuckAtFightingGames]

So I guess that if we can say that people like MK1 more than Tekken 8 and SF 6 because it outsold them, then we should also be able to say they like MK1 less than MKX and MK11 because they outsold it, right?

No, that's not right.

Market dynamics make comparisons tricky to pin down. To gauge MK1's success, you really have to look at the broader industry context at the time of its release. That's what investors, CEOs, and the big decision-makers care about, not just how previous games performed.

The real point to look at is that the gaming industry as a whole saw a dramatic slump, with record-low sales across all platforms and genres. Big companies have been posting massive losses, and they’re still doing so, and even some of the biggest ips have either underperformed or outright flopped. So there is no denying that MK1, in contrast, did very well, especially when you consider the state of the industry as a whole. That's the key takeaway that those looking at the bottom line will focus on.

And to be clear, I don’t think anyone’s claiming MK1 is as popular as MKX. What people are pointing out is that MK1 is a hit, it's did very well, and is still doing well, and it has made a ton of money for everyone involved in making and releasing it, while most other major IPs have bombed and failed to turn a profit. This is why WB named it as a focuse for the entire games dept along with Harry Potter.

 

[Subby Z]

This discussion made me curious, so I looked up MKX's and MK11's sales numbers. Not the final ones, but the ones close to the one year mark:

Batman: Arkham Knight, Mortal Kombat X Sell 5 Million Each Worldwide, Report Says - GameSpot
Following The Disappointing Sales Of Street Fighter V Are We Any Closer To A Mortal Kombat Crossover? | ResetEra

MKX sold 5 million units in 6 months.
MK11 sold 8 million units in 8 months.

So I guess that if we can say that people like MK1 more than Tekken 8 and SF 6 because it outsold them, then we should also be able to say they like MK1 less than MKX and MK11 because they outsold it, right?

Oh no!

Now you’ve opened the floodgates for the mental gymnastics snd excuses and insistence that you’re wrong.

I have a theory that this game checked a lot of internet fandoms boxes and thus admitting it’s done okay at best just cannot register in lots of their brains.

-Villains are all given heavier roles in the story just like internet fans cry for constantly (reptile and baraka finally got chapters, bi-han is Sub-Zero again, and Mileena is essentially filling Kitana’s role)

- 3D era characters were all brought back

- A combo heavy playstyle (at least from what I’m told. I’m not a competitive player)

And that’s just a few.

Yet this game stumbled in comparison to the others. Hmmmm. Maybe loud internet fandoms are NOT representative of the fanbase as a whole?

 

[M2Dave]

But I think it's also because we've done a great job of scaring them away, and a lot of people probably think the game is a lost cause.

I believe that the release version of the game scared players away.

While content creators and Twitter toxicity can sway opinions, I am convinced that people will play the game if they enjoy the game.

I am probably not the best example, but I almost played 1,000 games in Kombat League last season, irrespective of the negativity, or reality check, depending on your perspective, that the leaks caused.

You and I have discussed this topic in another thread before, but the reason Street Fighter 5 could recuperate from its catastrophic release is because people in the SRK community and at large know that any Street Fighter game will receive long-term support.

The mentality within the NRS community, on the other hand, is to "sit this one out" until the next game releases in two or three years.

Many NRS players dislike assist fighting games, so they have chosen to wait.

 

[TomShane]

This discussion made me curious, so I looked up MKX's and MK11's sales numbers. Not the final ones, but the ones close to the one year mark:

Batman: Arkham Knight, Mortal Kombat X Sell 5 Million Each Worldwide, Report Says - GameSpot
Following The Disappointing Sales Of Street Fighter V Are We Any Closer To A Mortal Kombat Crossover? | ResetEra

MKX sold 5 million units in 6 months.
MK11 sold 8 million units in 8 months.

So I guess that if we can say that people like MK1 more than Tekken 8 and SF 6 because it outsold them, then we should also be able to say they like MK1 less than MKX and MK11 because they outsold it, right?

Correction, MK11 sold 8 million in 1 year and 6 months, not just 8 months. Look at the date of the Tweet by Ed Boon himself. It is from October of 2020, a year and half after MK11's release, not 8 months.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1313207510866644992

MK1 have indeed sold very well. Just like @iSuckAtFightingGames said, tons of other games have floped recently, for various reasons, but not Mortal Kombat 1

 

[TomShane]

Oh no!

Now you’ve opened the floodgates for the mental gymnastics snd excuses and insistence that you’re wrong.

I have a theory that this game checked a lot of internet fandoms boxes and thus admitting it’s done okay at best just cannot register in lots of their brains.

-Villains are all given heavier roles in the story just like internet fans cry for constantly (reptile and baraka finally got chapters, bi-han is Sub-Zero again, and Mileena is essentially filling Kitana’s role)

- 3D era characters were all brought back

- A combo heavy playstyle (at least from what I’m told. I’m not a competitive player)

And that’s just a few.

Yet this game stumbled in comparison to the others. Hmmmm. Maybe loud internet fandoms are NOT representative of the fanbase as a whole?

Yes, internet fandoms are not representative of the fanbases as whole, but the sales of MK1 show that MK1 does say very well. The fact that Reptile and Baraka got much bigger roles in the story, the inclusion of 3D era characters and the variety of stuff you can do with the Kameos, both in terms of playstyles and combos, are all proofs of that. What the interent fandoms are not representing is the hate towards the Kameos, the content, and the package. It's the negatives from the interent MK fandom that is not presented in the overall MK fandom, not the positive, and the sales reflect that.

I believe that the release version of the game scared players away.

While content creators and Twitter toxicity can sway opinions, I am convinced that people will play the game if they enjoy the game.

MK1 is still among the top 15 best selling games on PS5, people do enjoy MK1 and play it. Once again, stats and data don't lie.

 

[TomShane]

MK has always been controversial due to the reasons you know (2d game with a block button, gore, dial-a-combo, etc). But I think it's also because we've done a great job of scaring them away, and a lot of people probably think the game is a lost cause.

I think having at least some leaders who advocate for the tournament scene is important. At Frosty we did have people enter who play other games, and if we get back to encouraging people to play in tournaments, I'm sure more will follow.

Indeed, and this is not just a problem with the MK community on the interent, but the FGC in general. They all did an "excellent" job by scaring people away, either by being toxic, gatekeeping or just fabricating the games in terms of gameplay. The problem with the MK interent fandom in particular is that they look up to the other FGC pros from other communities and they all wanna be in their good graces while at the same time these other FGC communities are full of elitism, so the MK interent fandom just goes along just to suck up to them.

This is why a huge chunk of the player base of Mortal Kombat are in the single player modes like Invasions and Towers of Time, so they can still enjoy the games and getting their money's worth, especially with how long the replay value is in these modes, without interacting with the interent community and the FGC part of the MK community, both in online modes and social media.

This is also one of the reasons why in SF6, more and more people go to play in the Battle Hub instead of Ranked, because they would rather be toxic with the customized movesests and no stakes, rather than be deal with toxic people with both restricted playstyles and and stakes, which lead to people for such toxic behavior.

Just look at this video, only in Japan people still play SF6 Ranked by high amounts, but in the US, most people play in the Battle Hub, the online mode that is not competitive.

 

[SaltShaker]

No, that's not right.

Market dynamics make comparisons tricky to pin down. To gauge MK1's success, you really have to look at the broader industry context at the time of its release. That's what investors, CEOs, and the big decision-makers care about, not just how previous games performed.

The real point to look at is that the gaming industry as a whole saw a dramatic slump, with record-low sales across all platforms and genres. Big companies have been posting massive losses, and they’re still doing so, and even some of the biggest ips have either underperformed or outright flopped. So there is no denying that MK1, in contrast, did very well, especially when you consider the state of the industry as a whole. That's the key takeaway that those looking at the bottom line will focus on.

And to be clear, I don’t think anyone’s claiming MK1 is as popular as MKX. What people are pointing out is that MK1 is a hit, it's did very well, and is still doing well, and it has made a ton of money for everyone involved in making and releasing it, while most other major IPs have bombed and failed to turn a profit. This is why WB named it as a focuse for the entire games dept along with Harry Potter.

To be fair I don't think that's how it should be looked at. Some games are down because they choose to make games that are better being a smile-happy-joy simulator (looking at you Dragon Age), but fighting games launched the last few years in a modern day FG boom, and I'm pretty sure MK1 is the only major one that did not outpace their previous game.

-SF6 doubled the sales of SF5 in it's first year
-Tekken 8 outpaced Tekken 7 sales without even being available on PS4 or Switch
-KOF 15 has no official sales numbers, but Steam peak is 8k plus players, KOF 14 peak was 1k plus players, obviously outpaced
-GGST sold more than the last couple of multiple GG games combined
---MK1 did not outpace MK11

MK1 is the outlier here.

The reasons have already been dragged out indefinitely so no need to rehash all that, but the expectations would be that MK1 would outpace MK11, yet that did not happen. It shouldn't be compared to some RPG or sports game that failed to meet expectations, it should be compared to other modern FGs that launched within a few years of each other.

 

[Shania Twain]

I don't think people care enough to critisize at this point. you just get the typical youtube shills that say the same stuff pop up.

 

[TomShane]

To be fair I don't think that's how it should be looked at. Some games are down because they choose to make games that are better being a smile-happy-joy simulator (looking at you Dragon Age), but fighting games launched the last few years in a modern day FG boom, and I'm pretty sure MK1 is the only major one that did not outpace their previous game.

-SF6 doubled the sales of SF5 in it's first year
-Tekken 8 outpaced Tekken 7 sales without even being available on PS4 or Switch
-KOF 15 has no official sales numbers, but Steam peak is 8k plus players, KOF 14 peak was 1k plus players, obviously outpaced
-GGST sold more than the last couple of multiple GG games combined
---MK1 did not outpace MK11

MK1 is the outlier here.

The reasons have already been dragged out indefinitely so no need to rehash all that, but the expectations would be that MK1 would outpace MK11, yet that did not happen. It shouldn't be compared to some RPG or sports game that failed to meet expectations, it should be compared to other modern FGs that launched within a few years of each other.

That logic is super flawed. Just because other games managed to get better results than the their prequels that doesn't that if MK1 doesn't get that same pace than it's in a bad place. Also GG and KOF were never even close to any of the big 3 in the terms of sales. And even more importantly, as of right now, Tekken 8 still yet to sell 3 million copies.

The only game that truly managed to spike up is SF6, and even that game still sold less than MK1 while MK1 is the most played fighting game on PS5 and no other fighting game is mentioned in the top 20, including SF6, meaning that even it's sales are not enough to surpass MK1. Oh and that includes over the so called peak that KOF15 got on Steam, MK1 on PS5 is much, MUCH bigger than this.

And yes, that comparison to other big AAA games that flopped is legit. If other games from other much bigger genres flopped but MK1 managed to still be successful, while once again other fighting games still behind it, shows that MK1 got excellent sales in relative to the current state of gaming in general.

So it's not MK1 behind the other fighting games, it's just that all other games managed to pass their own prequels, but all still behind MK1. And all of these other games are not gonna get any better than what they are now, considering that this is all part of the overhype done by the FGC. They surpassing MK1, they just fighting each other underneath MK1.

 

[SaltShaker]

That logic is super flawed. Just because other games managed to get better results than the their prequels that doesn't that if MK1 doesn't get that same pace than it's in a bad place. Also GG and KOF were never even close to any of the big 3 in the terms of sales. And even more importantly, as of right now, Tekken 8 still yet to sell 3 million copies.

The only game that truly managed to spike up is SF6, and even that game still sold less than MK1 while MK1 is the most played fighting game on PS5 and no other fighting game is mentioned in the top 20, including SF6, meaning that even it's sales are not enough to surpass MK1. Oh and that includes over the so called peak that KOF15 got on Steam, MK1 on PS5 is much, MUCH bigger than this.

And yes, that comparison to other big AAA games that flopped is legit. If other games from other much bigger genres flopped but MK1 managed to still be successful, while once again other fighting games still behind it, shows that MK1 got excellent sales in relative to the current state of gaming in general.

So it's not MK1 behind the other fighting games, it's just that all other games managed to pass their own prequels, but all still behind MK1. And all of these other games are not gonna get any better than what they are now, considering that this is all part of the overhype done by the FGC. They surpassing MK1, they just fighting each other underneath MK1.

I couldn't care less comparing Madden sales to Call of Duty, that's stupid, really stupid actually. Harada already said Tekken 8 outpaced T7, GGST massively dwarfs previous GG games. For some reason you're trying to pretend like the other games outselling their last version doesn't mean anything. Literally, they did, all of them except MK1. Yes, when your entire market outperforms the previous benchmark except one, that one is the outlier, not the entire market. This shouldn't even have to be explained. Whether you like this fact or not doesn't make it any less true.

Everyone knows MK makes the most sales. No one argued otherwise. The MK brand did not advance their sales relative to other FG brands advancing theirs. It would be like saying you make $80k at work, and your coworker makes $60k, you get a 2k raise and he gets a 10k raise, and your argument is your raise was better than his because you make more money. Obviously his raise was better than yours and you probably expected a better raise than 2k at the end of the year.

Games are always trying to sell more, that's literally the point of creating them, to sell and sell more, and then even more. The only thing you said that was true was "MK1 outsells the other FGs". Yes I know that, I think everyone does. MK2 will outsell them all also in the future. No one thinks KOF will magically sell more than SF or MK even if their sales likely jumped 500% with KOF15. That has nothing to do with the point and is one of the worst strawman arguments I have seen in a while.

 

[TarkatanPeriodontik]

So it's not MK1 behind the other fighting games, it's just that all other games managed to pass their own prequels, but all still behind MK1.

Using sales is just one metric, but it’s less relevant to the discussion we have on Test Your Might which is about the lack of community enthusiasm re tournaments and fgc weeklies/monthlys. MK1 has cratered entrant wise while series that sold a fraction of that amount like guilty gear, are bringing in way more people to play.
T.O’s don’t have a vendetta against the game, they just can’t get enough attendants to run a bracket. Other games like strive or Tekken 8 or even GBVS are more successful in making a game that people want to compete in. It’s like the difference between Splatoon and Valorant or Counterstrike. I’m sure splatoon sold more but that’s not the metric we are looking at, as the FGC. Mario Kart sells way more than iRacing but iRacing is the more serious competitive game.

 

[TomShane]

I couldn't care less comparing Madden sales to Call of Duty, that's stupid, really stupid actually. Harada already said Tekken 8 outpaced T7, GGST massively dwarfs previous GG games. For some reason you're trying to pretend like the other games outselling their last version doesn't mean anything. Literally, they did, all of them except MK1. Yes, when your entire market outperforms the previous benchmark except one, that one is the outlier, not the entire market. This shouldn't even have to be explained. Whether you like this fact or not doesn't make it any less true.

Everyone knows MK makes the most sales. No one argued otherwise. The MK brand did not advance their sales relative to other FG brands advancing theirs. It would be like saying you make $80k at work, and your coworker makes $60k, you get a 2k raise and he gets a 10k raise, and your argument is your raise was better than his because you make more money. Obviously his raise was better than yours and you probably expected a better raise than 2k at the end of the year.

Games are always trying to sell more, that's literally the point of creating them, to sell and sell more, and then even more. The only thing you said that was true was "MK1 outsells the other FGs". Yes I know that, I think everyone does. MK2 will outsell them all also in the future. No one thinks KOF will magically sell more than SF or MK even if their sales likely jumped 500% with KOF15. That has nothing to do with the point and is one of the worst strawman arguments I have seen in a while.

Except that this is a none issue. If all other games manage to outsell their prequels but still under MK1 while the sales across all games of all genres are lower due to various reasons that a big chunk of them have nothing to do with the quality of the games, that's not an issue for MK1. In fact, it's more of an issue of the rest of the fighting games, that even with all of the upgrades in sales, they are all still behind MK1.

You sound like a video game publisher CEO, you know, the guys that only wanna see growth.

If MK1 at the very end manages to sell, let's say, 12 million copies, that will be less than MK11, but the same as MKX. It will still sell more than all current fighting games as well as all other fighting games from previous gen other than MKX and MK11. So is it a bad thing? It's only good when the sequel sells more, even if the final sales numbers are great, and even if there are several factors that once again, have nothing to do with the game's quality or marketing?

MK1 getting a slower pace of sales isn't an issue, especially if the only game that truly manages to get even close to it is SF6 and even that one is still pretty behind it. Once again, Tekken 8 still hasn't sold even 3 million copies. OK sure, it got a burst at the start, but it slowed down so badly and Bamco hasn't say anything since the initial 2 million, unlike NRS and WB for MK1 or Capcom for SF6. I think, if anything, your concern should go to Tekken 8, not MK1.

 

[TomShane]

Using sales is just one metric, but it’s less relevant to the discussion we have on Test Your Might which is about the lack of community enthusiasm re tournaments and fgc weeklies/monthlys. MK1 has cratered entrant wise while series that sold a fraction of that amount like guilty gear, are bringing in way more people to play.
T.O’s don’t have a vendetta against the game, they just can’t get enough attendants to run a bracket. Other games like strive or Tekken 8 or even GBVS are more successful in making a game that people want to compete in. It’s like the difference between Splatoon and Valorant or Counterstrike. I’m sure splatoon sold more but that’s not the metric we are looking at, as the FGC. Mario Kart sells way more than iRacing but iRacing is the more serious competitive game.

That's not the game's fault, that is the community's fault. Like Crimson Shadow said, the MK interent community, along with the FGC being full of elitism, scared people away from competing in any Mortal Kombat or Injustice game. NRS and WB did everything they could've and yet the community kept complaining and waited for NRS and WB to do all the work for them, while Japanese fighting games have Japanese platers who are all at much better mentality for fighting games. Yes the complain also, a lot, and they also managed to scare other people from playing fighting games in general. But the MK interent fandom is just on another level compared to the SF or Tekken interent fandom. That comment is exactly a bioproduct of that mentality, it's not the games that are bad, it's the community that is bad.

 

[SaltShaker]

Except that this is a none issue. If all other games manage to outsell their prequels but still under MK1 while the sales across all games of all genres are lower due to various reasons that a big chunk of them have nothing to do with the quality of the games, that's not an issue for MK1. In fact, it's more of an issue of the rest of the fighting games, that even with all of the upgrades in sales, they are all still behind MK1.

You sound like a video game publisher CEO, you know, the guys that only wanna see growth.

If MK1 at the very end manages to sell, let's say, 12 million copies, that will be less than MK11, but the same as MKX. It will still sell more than all current fighting games as well as all other fighting games from previous gen other than MKX and MK11. So is it a bad thing? It's only good when the sequel sells more, even if the final sales numbers are great, and even if there are several factors that once again, have nothing to do with the game's quality or marketing?

MK1 getting a slower pace of sales isn't an issue, especially if the only game that truly manages to get even close to it is SF6 and even that one is still pretty behind it. Once again, Tekken 8 still hasn't sold even 3 million copies. OK sure, it got a burst at the start, but it slowed down so badly and Bamco hasn't say anything since the initial 2 million, unlike NRS and WB for MK1 or Capcom for SF6. I think, if anything, your concern should go to Tekken 8, not MK1.

Im a MASSIVE KOF fan for two decades, sales don't bother me, bad arguments do. No company on earth wants to make less money than they made or sell less than they sold. KOF sales targets are not the same as SF or GG sales targets, and that's more than fine, but exceeding the numbers will always be seen as a positive sign and enhances company buy in for more content, dlc, longevity, etc. Companies are businesses. Your argument, in regards to sales specifically, can be summarized into "it's irrelevant that every single FG competitor in the entire market overperformed, except MK1 who underperformed, because MK1 currently has the largest market share". Bruh lol.

Not much else to add that I haven't already said. My only piece of advice is to never, ever, accept a job in business or finance.

 

[TomShane]

Im a MASSIVE KOF fan for two decades, sales don't bother me, bad arguments do. No company on earth wants to make less money than they made or sell less than they sold. KOF sales targets are not the same as SF or GG sales targets, and that's more than fine, but exceeding the numbers will always be seen as a positive sign and enhances company buy in for more content, dlc, longevity, etc. Companies are businesses. Your argument, in regards to sales specifically, can be summarized into "it's irrelevant that every single FG competitor in the entire market overperformed, except MK1 who underperformed, because MK1 currently has the largest market share". Bruh lol.

Not much else to add that I haven't already said. My only piece of advice is to never, ever, accept a job in business or finance.

Except that you're ignoring that Ed Boon said by himself that they all at NRS are grateful for all MK fans for the 5 million plus that they got so far plus for still being in the top 15 best selling PS5 games ever after a year and quarter after launch while no other fighting have surpassed MK1 in sales even with all of their increased sales. That is because that Ed Boon is aware of all other circumstances surrounding the game industry right now, which once again have nothing to do with the quality or launch state of MK1, and trust me, David Zaslav is aware of it too. That's why he himself also said that he still wants to invest in Mortal Kombat along with Harry Potter, DC Comics actin games and Lord of the Rings, but other IP's like Injustice, a DC fighting game, seems like they are never gonna return.

And like I said, if anything, your concern should go to Bamco and Tekken 8, not MK1 and NRS/WB, as Tekken 8 still doesn't even have 3 million copies sold, and today is exactly the 1 year anniversary of Tekken 8. In that pace, they will never come even close to 9 or 10 million copies, let alone the 11.8 million copies that Tekken 7 got. But yet you put Tekken 8 with all of these other games, while THE ONLY ONE THAT TRULY MANAGED TO GET A LEGIT INCREASE IN SALES, is once again, SF6, but you outline MK1.

I'm sorry, but you only proven my point, the MK interent fandom indeed are the ones that hurting the competitive scene and the fandom in general, not the games themselves, with comments like these

 

[M2Dave]

NRS and WB did everything they could've...

...except publish a functional, well-polished, enjoyable fighting game on release. LOL.

The truth lies somewhere between "Mortal Kombat is ass, breh" and "WB and NRS can do no wrong".

I try to articulate the moderate perspective on this forum and on the podcast.

Using sales is just one metric, but it’s less relevant to the discussion we have on Test Your Might which is about the lack of community enthusiasm re tournaments and fgc weeklies/monthlys.

I believe that there are multiple factors involved, which few people acknowledge or mention in their entirety.

• The game was objectively bad on release, which "scared away", to use Crimson's words, lots of casual and competitive players.
• Lots of players dislike the kameo system for all the reasons that have been discussed in this thread.
• The modern NRS community consists of many young players who either cannot afford to travel or do not have permission to.
• Mortal Kombat has never been a legacy franchise, so the veterans, who are the individuals with name recognition and the ability/experience to grow/support the scene, leave to play other games.
• There is a legitimate conversation about whether traveling or supporting the scene is worth the time and financial investment. Content creators make more money streaming than competing, which stands true for other games as well.
• The overwhelming majority of fighting game matches are now played online. I predict that most tournaments will be held online while a handful of major tournaments like EVO and CEO will be held offline, which is more or less what is already happening in the current FGC.

 

[Vulgar]

...
[*]The overwhelming majority of fighting game matches are now played online. I predict that most tournaments will be held online while a handful of major tournaments like EVO and CEO will be held offline, which is more or less what is already happening in the current FGC.
[/LIST]

I've noticed this as well and it's as you said; it's happening across games.

It would be a shame to lose regionals and smaller events.

 

[TomShane]

...except publish a functional, well-polished, enjoyable fighting game on release. LOL.

The truth lies somewhere between "Mortal Kombat is ass, breh" and "WB and NRS can do no wrong".

I try to articulate the moderate perspective on this forum and on the podcast.



I believe that there are multiple factors involved, which few people acknowledge or mention in their entirety.

• The game was objectively bad on release, which "scared away", to use Crimson's words, lots of casual and competitive players.
• Lots of players dislike the kameo system for all the reasons that have been discussed in this thread.
• The modern NRS community consists of many young players who either cannot afford to travel or do not have permission to.
• Mortal Kombat has never been a legacy franchise, so the veterans, who are the individuals with name recognition and the ability/experience to grow/support the scene, leave to play other games.
• There is a legitimate conversation about whether traveling or supporting the scene is worth the time and financial investment. Content creators make more money streaming than competing, which stands true for other games as well.
• The overwhelming majority of fighting game matches are now played online. I predict that most tournaments will be held online while a handful of major tournaments like EVO and CEO will be held offline, which is more or less what is already happening in the current FGC.

You are right about two things, the issue today with traveling and the vast scope of matches being played online. However, you are wrong about multiple things. Allowed me explain/

1. NRS/WB have indeed made functional, well-polished and enjoyable fighting games from MK9 to MK1, both for competitive players, online warriors, single player guys and sporadic casuals, and they only improved with each game.
2. MK1 was objectively GOOD on release. Other fighting games such as SF6 and Tekken 8 had bugs and missing features as well at launch that the FGC tried as much as they could to sweep them under the rug. SF6 with it's input system bug and throw escape bug, many bugs and glitches on day one for Tekken 8 and then more bugs even after the day 1 patch on Steam, also no online training just like MK1, and now MK1 is the only game out of the big 3 to have a Wi-Fi filter
3. Only very few, vocal minority of people hate the Kameos, even in the online space of the fandom, tons of people like them. Same goes for the story mode, Invasions and more.
4. Almost no fighting game IP was a legacy IP. It's not just MK that never was as such. SF, MVC, Soul Calibur, Guilty Gear and more. Injustice and Tekken are legacy IP's, yes, but tons of others were not. In fact, MVC has gone through even more changes than MK. From being 1V1 in the first 2 games to 2v2, to adding assists over time, to making it a 3V3 while changing the entire control scheme in MvC2, to changing the control scheme again in MVC3, to changing the control scheme a third time in MVCI plus going back to 2V2 and removing assists altogether.

Oh and before make a comment about me putting SF in the non-legacy IP list, check this video.

 

[TarkatanPeriodontik]

I need to attend a local soon, but in my time attending them it was the lead up to SF6’s release and someone had a cracked PC version of the beta he brought in to let us run friendlies on. Maybe the weeklies aren’t at the 09 level in terms of attendance but there was still a decent sized scene that played fighting games enthusiastically as recently as 2024. @M2Dave you have some good explanations for the discrepancy between MK and its competitors regarding community attendance. Here’s hoping they actually turn MK1 around (the speculation about dlc and tweaks coming is giving me hopium)

 

[TarkatanPeriodontik]

Almost no fighting game IP was a legacy IP.

I agree with your point here but point 2 is insane, if you are comparing launch MK1 with launch SF6. mK1 didn’t even have a filter to screen bad connections

Edit: if you haven’t seen Maximillians video on what went wrong with MK1 I’d refer you to that but the TL;DR is MK lacks basic lobby and online features like match anywhere that are present in its competitors. It makes actually playing against people cumbersome. It’s not worth listing all the discrepancies out but launch MK1 lacked features and the current build ALSO is missing basic features

 

[TomShane]

I agree with your point here but point 2 is insane, if you are comparing launch MK1 with launch SF6. mK1 didn’t even have a filter to screen bad connections

And like I said, MK1 is now the only one of the big 3 to have a WiFi filter, SF6 and Tekken 8 don't have it.

MK1 came at launch with all the stuff you need and gonna use. People say they want online training but almost no one uses them, same thing with online rooms. In year 3-4 of MK11, almost no one used the rooms, all online players were pretty much in Kombat League only.

It's the same thing with the intros. People want the intros to go back to they style they were and also be able to customize it but people just keep skipping the intros anyway. Why invest money and resources in something the players are not gonna use in the long run or only very few players will?

 

[SaltShaker]

1. MK1 was objectively GOOD on release

Man, had I known you were just here to troll I wouldn't have wasted my time earlier explaining that companies like to increase their sales margins lol.

And like I said, MK1 is now the only one of the big 3 to have a WiFi filter, SF6 and Tekken 8 don't have it.

Have you ever played SF or Tekken? Are you a real person or a hired WB intern?

 

[TarkatanPeriodontik]

online training I’ll give you, but I think it’s a misnomer. What people want is the ability to be in a training room while the game looks for a match. Why is this not in the game? You spend so much time staring at a “waiting for match” screen. Also a lack of a lobby system.

Going between MK1 and most other modern fighting game will reveal these discrepancies

 

[Eldriken]

Man, had I known you were just here to troll I wouldn't have wasted my time earlier explaining that companies like to increase their sales margins lol.



Have you ever played SF or Tekken? Are you a real person or a hired WB intern?

Check this guy's posting history. All they're here to do is fucking argue. lol