The Fight Continues
E125: Mortal Kombat 1 is back as a series reboot.
Good morning gamers! The fighting game genre is home to some of the most iconic video game franchises ever created. Over the last few decades it feels like Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. has dominated the market but times are shifting and fighting games are making a resurgence. Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 have both been announced, Riot is working on their own League of Legends inspired fighting game codenamed Project L, and most recently, WB Games announced Mortal Kombat 1.
Mortal Kombat 1 will serve as a full series reboot launching September 19, 2023 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch. Other details include,
Developed by NetherRealm Studios and includes cross-play and cross-progression.
Features a “reborn” Mortal Kombat universe created by Fire God Liu Kang.
Has an immersive (and original) story campaign featuring your “favorite Mortal Kombat characters like you’ve never seen them before”.
Marks a new era of Mortal Kombat with a new fighting system, new game modes and new fatalities.
Introduces a new feature called “Kameo Fighters” - They’re a unique roster of partner characters to assist during matches.
Confirmed mainline characters include Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Kitana, Mileena, Kung Lao, Raiden, Johnny Cage, Shang Tsung.
Amazon accidentally leaked some DLC characters including Quan Chi, Omni Man, Ermac, Peacemaker, Takeda and Homelander. Leaked Kameo Fighters include Tremor, Johnny Cage, Khameleon, Mavado and Ferra.
Jean-Claude Van Damme will appear as an alternate skin for Johnny Cage.
Pre-order to get Shang Tsung and beta access. Standard Edition costs $69.99, Premium Edition costs $109.99 and the Kollector’s Edition costs $249.99.
Esports Corner
🥇 Congratulations to Team Vitality for winning the BLAST CS:GO Paris Major 2023
The North American League of Legends (LCS) professional scene has been struggling with poor international results and decreased viewership as of late. To help add more operational and financial flexibility for participating LCS teams, Riot have officially removed the mandate that required LCS teams to also field a Challengers League team. Since the announcement was made, Cloud9, NRG, Dignitas and Golden Guardians have dropped their NACL teams.
BREAKING: TSM has announced that they’re departing the LCS and transitioning to another Tier 1 region. They will be selling their LCS spot and most likely moving to the LPL.
After winning the VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo and securing their region an extra slot at the VCT Masters Tokyo, FNATIC have now finished the regular season of the EMEA Valorant Champions Tour undefeated (only dropping 1 map in 9 games). They are the only undefeated team across the entire global VCT and haven’t lost a series since Superdome in October 2022. In addition, Riot have announced that their three regional VCT Ascension events will take place after Masters Tokyo which will crown the teams being promoted from the Challengers League to the Partnered League.
The 2023 Call of Duty League World Championships and the Challengers Champs will both be held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas from June 15-18. Unlike the Call of Duty League where only one of the twelve teams are outside of North America, the Challengers Finals will feature global teams from across NA, EU, LATAM and APAC. The grand finals from both events will be played on the main stage.
Gaming Roundup
The European Commission has officially approved Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard King even after UK regulators blocked the deal.
Amazon Games announced a “The Lord of the Rings” MMO game for PC and consoles from “New World” developer Orange County Studio.
Fortnite has begun to tease the arrival of Miles Morales to their game ahead of the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse release next month.
Stray, the PlayStation console exclusive has been rated by The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
Overwatch 2 is canceling their PvE Hero Mode as the game is now going in a different direction (according to their upcoming roadmap).
Ubisoft’s most recent financial report says they plan to release 8 new games this fiscal year (ending April 2024) including an unannounced “large game”.
Arkane Studios Lyon, the developer behind Deathloop, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider and Dishonored 2 is hiring for a new Xbox project.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has surpassed 10 million copies sold marking the biggest launch ever for the Zelda franchise.
PlayStation has announced their 2023 showcase on May 24th. The event will feature games from “Top Studios Around the World”.
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick refused to confirm that their $8 billion target for net bookings in FY2025 is related to Grand Theft Auto VI.
Ghost of Tsushima and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice reportedly have anime adaptations in development.
BioShock 4 is reportedly experiencing development issues. The game recently changed leadership, which has not helped the situation.
Supermassive Games is reportedly developing a new interactive adventure horror game set in the Dead by Daylight Universe.
Scalebound was included on a leaked list of games to be revealed at the upcoming Xbox Showcase event on June 11th.
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