Highlights
- Mortal Kombat 1 will receive a story expansion, similar to Mortal Kombat 11's Aftermath, as part of Warner Bros. Games' plan to support the game for several years.
- The story DLC for Mortal Kombat 1 has the potential to take different formats, such as an adventure mode or a cinematic story with multiple chapters.
- The DLC for Mortal Kombat 1 could introduce new plot-relevant characters and potentially experiment with a new mechanic, such as a limited Kreate-A-Fighter system.
This article contains spoilers for Mortal Kombat 1.The era of Mortal Kombat 1 is progressing, with multiple Invasions seasons and several downloadable characters already under its belt. A lot of bugs and missing features are gradually being ironed out with each update, and plans for future content are gradually becoming public. By this point, fans have a good idea of when Mortal Kombat 1’s Kombat Pack 1 fighters will be dropped over the coming months, and director Ed Boon has even confirmed a couple more surprises are on their way.
Capitalizing on Warner Bros. Games’ intent to keep Mortal Kombat 1 running for three-to-four years, a story expansion will be its next big addition. This will parallel the Aftermath expansion that launched for Mortal Kombat 11 about a year after that game’s release. Whether or not MK1's equivalent will be a paid expansion or will have its own physical and digital bundles like Aftermath hasn't been announced yet, but that news will come in time. As it stands, players familiar with MK11’s Aftermath expansion and MK1's story twists have a pretty good idea of what the story of this DLC should focus on.
One Mortal Kombat Tower Ending is Perfect For a Full DLC Expansion
Mortal Kombat 1's Tower Mode features unique endings that add to the campaigns', and one is perfect for a full DLC expansion.
How Mortal Kombat 1 Sets Up Its Story DLC
Over the course of MK1's plot, it's revealed that a multiverse was created during the course of Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath, and every Mortal Kombat character now serves as a given dimension’s Titan creator and guardian. Fire God Liu Kang and a few allied Titans, as well as a chosen player character, end up waging a multiversal war against Titan Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat 1’s final chapter, ultimately succeeding and letting all the heroes return home. Unfortunately, the fighting attracted Titan Havik, who loved the chaos so much that he ended MK1's story planning to wage another, even larger multiversal war.
MK1 Has A Lot Of Freedom To Approach Its DLC’s Format
Mortal Kombat 1's DLC should pick up from there, though how it does so is an open-ended question. Anything from an adventure mode similar to MK Deception’s Konquest, to another cinematic story with five chapters like MK11 Aftermath, could be the expansion’s format. Whatever the case may be, fans should expect to fight many alternate versions of characters with combined movesets like in base MK1’s final chapter. The main story’s Earthrealm and Outworld protagonists could see some action, but NetherRealm Studios may want to wrap up Mortal Kombat 1's multiverse plot in this DLC to make room for more focused character storylines later.
What DLC Characters Tell Us About MK1’s Story Expansion
A set of new characters came alongside MK11’s Aftermath DLC that, coupled with its first Kombat Pack, ensured all the DLC’s major characters were playable. Mortal Kombat 1 could emulate this with another set of plot-relevant DLC fighters complementing those in its own Kombat Pack 1. However, MK1’s known DLC additions throw a wrench into that. Half of the playable characters in its Kombat Pack 1 are guests, Quan Chi and Ermac have already fought in the story, and the last, Takeda, can’t work without a new MK1 origin, likely in a different universe. This suggests guest fighters could finally feature in Mortal Kombat’s story, but there is another possibility.
The Mortal Kombat 1 DLC Could Experiment With A New Mechanic
Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath’s last feature was subtle, as it demoed MK1's Kameo system in some of its story fights. This wouldn’t work in the context of MK1, but when its DLC inevitably reintroduces the remixed multiversal fighters from the base game’s last chapter, this time the player could control one of them. Having a limited form of Mortal Kombat Armageddon’s Kreate-A-Fighter system return in Mortal Kombat 1’s story expansion would definitely turn some heads, and could help set the stage for the next Mortal Kombat.
Mortal Kombat 1
The 12th mainline entry in Warner Bros' franchise, Mortal Kombat 1 is set to be a soft reboot. Along with staples like a single-player campaign and online multiplayer, the 2023 game will also introduce Kameo Fighters.
