Mortal Kombat 11 to get last minute reward and balance changes after community backlash

After months of hype, Mortal Kombat 11 finally launched on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC earlier today. Unfortunately, many fans aren't happy with how the game handles rewards and monetization in two of its modes-- Towers of Time and The Krypt. 

Both modes give out in-game currency that you can exchange for various items like skins, character intros, and profile icons. The game hasn't even been out a day and players have already highlighted that the amount of time you need to play in order to earn some of these rewards, even a simple skin, is quite high. 

NetherRealm Studios recognized the complaints in their Kombat Kast stream yesterday, saying that they would be tweaking some systems on the backend to make the grind less intense. They didn't elaborate on when the change would be complete or how much they would be adjusting the system. They did say the changes would come in seamlessly and not through a patch.  

While there's been a lot of excitement around Mortal Kombat 11, concerns over the game's monetization methods, hefty amount of paid DLC, and the need for some systems' need to have a constant connection to the internet have fired up Reddit and Twitter. Some fans have even grown frustrated at NetherRealm's quick response, with a conspiracy theory that it actually planned to launch the game in an egregious state,  so it could then fix it to generate goodwill. All while maintaining an in-game economy that focuses on microtransactions. 

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Contributor

Aron Garst is a journalist and writer exploring the future of games and interactivity. Follow him on X at @GarstProduction.