Highlights
- Mortal Kombat 1 is expected to have two Kombat Packs, following the series' track record, but the size of these packs remains uncertain.
- The inclusion of Kameo Fighters in Kombat Pack 1 raises questions about the amount of DLC the game will receive, potentially allowing for more guest characters.
- The reception of Mortal Kombat 1 and its ability to retain players could impact the size and quantity of future DLC, with the potential for a second Kombat Pack and multiple smaller packs.
Mortal Kombat 1 was released earlier this month with extensive content available at launch. Months before release, developers had already announced the first Kombat Pack, which will include six primary fighters and five Kameo fighters. Half of the six fighters will be licensed guest characters from superhero media, and the other half will be returning MK characters. With so much content already announced, Mortal Kombat 1 players will have new content to keep them engaged for months to come. That said, the series' track record with DLC may hold some hints at how much more may arrive thereafter.
Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11 both received Kombat Packs as well. Mortal KombatX received two packs with four characters and felt fairly standard for the genre, for example. Many competitive fighting games run on a seasonal model with four characters released each, typically over the course of a year. These Kombat Packs more or less followed this model, being released 10 months apart. Mortal Kombat 11 on the other hand was a little bit different. Like Mortal Kombat 1, MK11's first Kombat Pack featured six characters, half of which were guests, but its second pack was half the size.
Mortal Kombat 1 Will Probably Have 2 Kombat Packs
While other fighting games such as Street Fighter tend to have longer shelf lives, Mortal Kombat games tend to release, get two rounds of DLC packs, and then move on to a new entry. Given the series track record, Mortal Kombat 1 will almost certainly receive two Kombat Packs. What remains a real mystery, however, is how big these packs will be. MK11's second pack was smaller than its first, but that doesn't mean that MK1 will follow suit with its second round of DLC.
Mortal Kombat 1's inclusion of Kameo Fighters raises some questions about the volume of DLC the game will receive. The inclusion of five Kameo characters in Kombat Pack 1 is a considerable chunk of content for developers to balance but provides a lot of extra value over MK11's first Kombat Pack.
While developing Kameo Fighters will still take time, it would be an easier way for the developers to add more characters to the game between Kombat Packs, and they could even be omitted or featured more heavily in a second Kombat Pack as there is no precedent for how Kameo Fighters will be handled. Kameo Fighters also present the opportunity for Mortal Kombat 1 to feature a lot more guest characters than previous entries have been able to.
The Reception of Mortal Kombat 1 Could Impact The Size of Kombat Pack 2
A Kombat Pack 2 seems like a probability for Mortal Kombat 1 given the popularity of the franchise, but how big it will be is a mystery. While Mortal Kombat 11 was well received at launch, its changes to gameplay were controversial and its competitive scene faced series retention issues. Mortal Kombat 1's gameplay is unique and features a tremendous amount of single-player and multiplayer content, so it's not hard to imagine it could remain popular with both casual and hardcore fans for longer.
If Mortal Kombat 1 manages to keep fans coming back to it more effectively than MK11 did, a second Kombat Pack might feature another six primary fighters and five Kameo Fighters. It would also be unsurprising to see multiple smaller packs after this first big one. While Mortal Kombat has a track record of doing multiple DLCs for every game, the form these DLCs take can certainly evolve given the context. Kombat Pack 2 leaks have suggested that the developers are planning on a second pack the same size as the first, meaning that additional content offerings for Mortal Kombat 1 could be the greatest of any game in the series.
Mortal Kombat 1 is available now for PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox Series X/S.
