Highlights

  • A new update for Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition will improve game balance and provide unlocks for players at higher levels.
  • Ranked Crossplay support is coming, allowing Steam, Windows, and Xbox players to compete in ranked matches together.
  • Players will be able to enjoy new features like a fresh blocking system, increased character and player level caps, and adjustments to the Shadow Lords mode.

A brand-new update for Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition is coming soon for Xbox consoles and PC, and the patch notes have revealed an extensive list of upcoming changes and additions to the beloved fighting game. The new update will adjust the overall game balance of Killer Instinct and give the community more unlocks to pursue by reaching higher player and character levels.

Originally created by Rare in 1994, the Killer Instinct series would go on to receive multiple entries and ports over the years, including the 2013 Killer Instinct reboot. A decade later, the continued support of the Killer Instinct community encouraged Microsoft to team up with developer Iron Galaxy Studios again to release Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition in November 2023. On February 29, Iron Galaxy Studios also released a new Killer Instinct update, nearly 11 years after the launch of the reboot.

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April 2 is Going to Be an Exciting Day for Xbox Game Pass Subscribers

This coming Tuesday, April 2 is shaping up to be a particularly exciting day for those subscribed to the Xbox Game Pass subscription service.

Iron Galaxy Studios released the patch notes for Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition update 3.11.15, which is scheduled to launch on April 2. The update's release will mark the beginning of Ranked Crossplay support, which lets Steam, Windows, and Xbox players compete in ranked matches together. Alongside ranked crossplay, a new blocking system will be implemented in the game, allowing players to restrict interactions with others in lobbies, Exhibition matches, and Ranked matches. As a result, a new code of conduct will be published for Killer Instinct to explain the updated community guidelines as well.

All players will receive access to the previously exclusive Ultimate Source Figures colors for the Killer Instinct roster. What's more, the character level and player level caps have been increased from 50 to 65. Players may unlock the Training Room and Debug Void stages and additional fighter colors by leveling up. However, it's worth noting that the Debug Void stage cannot be used in Ranked matches due to accessibility reasons.

The update will bring adjustments to Killer Instinct's Shadow Lords mode to make the gameplay experience more rewarding for players, including more reward drops on average and a refactored scoring system. Boss Gargos receives several tweaks and adjustments in Shadow Lords as well, including a slower resurrection rate for the boss in Normal and Challenging difficulties. In addition, select Shadow Lord artifacts, such as the Shadow Lord Heart and Shadow Lord Bloody Lungs, were retuned and renamed to stand out in their respective tiers. After the update's release, it should be easier to execute a Combo Breaker in Killer Instinct against the boss version of Gargos, due to the difficulty tweaks.

An exact time for the new update's launch has not been announced yet, but Iron Galaxy Studios will announce it once the development team is ready. The update will be available for all players, including those who redeemed the Xbox Game Pass version of Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition.

Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition Update 3.11.15 Patch Notes

General

  • Ranked Crossplay is fully live! You can now enjoy ranked matches between Steam and the Xbox/Windows ecosystems. Please note that both versions still have their own Ranked Leaderboards.
  • We want to keep Killer Instinct a safe place for all players. To this end, we’ve implemented a new Blocking system to restrict interactions with other players you select. Blocking works differently depending on the mode you’re in.
    • In Exhibition, blocking a player means you will not be able to find a player who you have blocked, or has blocked you.
    • In Ranked, blocking only restricts communication between players by muting their voice chat.
    • In the Lobby, you won’t join a lobby hosted by someone who you’ve blocked, nor will you admit someone into the lobby whom you have blocked. However, you may find yourself in a lobby with someone you’ve blocked, given they’re not the host.
    • For more information on our community guidelines, keep an eye out for a new code of conduct we’ll be sharing soon.

  • We’ve unlocked access to previously exclusive Ultimate Source™ Figures colors for all players on all platforms! We wanted to unlock these all at the same time, but an issue unlocked them early on Steam only, which forced us to fix that issue so we could roll this out properly.
  • We’ve increased the character level cap from 50 to 65!
    • We’ve added 3 additional unlockable remix colors per character to celebrate KI’s anniversary. That makes 87 additional color options! You can unlock these at character levels 55, 60, and 65!

  • We’ve increased the player level cap from 50 to 65!
    • We’ve added two stage unlocks tied to your player level. At level 60, you’ll unlock the Training Room. At level 65, you’ll unlock the Debug Void.
      • These stages will not appear in Random Stage Selection.
      • Debug Void cannot be used in Ranked mode for accessibility considerations.
      • Debug Void is called Debug for a reason… you can sometimes see things in it that you ordinarily are not supposed to. Have fun with it!

  • The Steam hot-mic issue is resolved! We added a voice chat option in the audio settings that will allow you to turn off all voice chat, which includes your own microphone.
  • We’ve added an option to adjust the amount of camera shake played during combat. This option will not affect camera shake during cinematics but will affect all other types of camera shake used for impacts in normal combat.
  • Improved overall game stability.
  • Fixed some very rare instances of players losing save data.

Shadow Lords

  • We’ve made a number of adjustments to Shadow Lords in order to reduce friction and make it more rewarding.
    • Boss Gargos’ resurrection has been adjusted to fill slower with reduced health regeneration given to Normal and Challenging difficulties.
    • Boss Gargos’ modifiers have been tuned to have less damage, less Potential Damage, slower health regeneration, and less Instinct and Shadow Meter Drain.
    • Shadow Lord Artifacts have been tuned and themed with new names to make the tiers stand out:
      • Shadow Lord Heart (Normal): Significant Health and Defensive increase to help with survivability.
      • Shadow Lord Bloody Lungs (Challenging): Increased Shadow Meter Drain on hit and during a Shadow Move, and Instinct Meter Drain during a Shadow Move.
      • Shadow Lord Fanged Wings (Godlike): Huge damage boost and small increase to Potential Damage.

  • Increased rewards for completing Shadow Lords.
  • Refactored scoring and rewards for Shadow Lords to make speed running it on subsequent playthroughs much more rewarding. This should also make it easier to unlock Mimic skins.

Gameplay

  • The fail safe we tried last time to prevent characters from mirroring incorrectly was causing much bigger problems than just leaving it the way it was, so unfortunately, we’ve reverted that change. Thank you to everyone who tested around this and reported the new issues.

Thunder

  • When landing from a Sammamish that has hit the opponent, you can now move or take actions 5 frames earlier. This prevents an issue where Thunder could be negative on hit after using his Surprise Knee. If your Sammamish does not land a hit, you will still suffer the full recovery time, even if the Surprise Knee or Dropkick lands a hit.

Maya

  • Fixed an issue causing her Crouching Heavy Punch to do less hitstun on counterhit than on a normal hit.

Hisako

  • Hisako has been on our radar for a while as a potential candidate for strongest in the game. With many of her other challenging match ups getting a little easier, we wanted to make a small adjustment to one of Hisako’s scariest moves in the hopes that things stay nice and balanced for many years to come.
  • Reduced damage on Influence special moves.
    • Light now deals 27 damage (was 40)
    • Medium now deals 33 damage (was 48)
    • Heavy now deals 39 damage (was 60)
    • Shadow now deals 50 damage (was 60)

  • Added additional recovery time when whiffing an Influence special move.
    • Light now recovers in 40 frames (was 34)
    • Medium now recovers in 44 frames (was 38)
    • Heavy now recovers in 48 frames (was 42)
    • Shadow now recovers in 52 frames (was 45)

  • These two changes mean that there is a higher risk when missing Influence, and a lower reward for landing one. Because it can start combos at full wrath, which it often does, we feel that the lower reward up front makes a lot of sense for this move.

Gargos

  • Fixed an issue causing his Standing Heavy Kick to deal less damage on counter hit than on a normal hit.