The news that Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath is arriving later in May is exciting for players everywhere, featuring new fighters, stages, the return of the iconic Friendship finishers, and the continuation of the story following the defeat of Kronica. The reveal that all three of the new fighters would be releasing at once on May 26 was perhaps the biggest surprise in the news (sorry, Friendships), and it makes us wonder exactly how many more characters we can expect to see added to the roster.
Thirty-Four Fighters, So Far
When Aftermath releases later this month, the total number of usable fighters in the game will reach thirty-four. Twenty-five of these were included on launch in April of last year, and nine will have been added since then as DLC. Given that each fighter has three kompetitive variations for tournaments and online ladder, there really is something for every style of play.
While having over one hundred options for kompetitive play is great, there can always be more, and the health of the game for the long term depends on it.
Tekken 7 And Street Fighter V
Despite having released in 2015, Tekken 7 remains a dominating force in the fighting genre and has sold over 4 million copies as of July 2019, and Street Fighter V is close behind at 3.6 million copies sold, having released in 2016. Both Tekken 7 and Street Fighter V operate under similar long-term plan structures to keep casual and competitive players committed to playing.
Both games do this by releasing new characters over time, with Tekken 7 now boasting 45 characters, each of which is viable for play at all but the highest levels, and even then, it is up for debate. Street Fighter V began with a tiny roster of only 16 fighters and is now up to 42. As Mortal Kombat 11 has done so far, these additional fighters have been released gradually, in new seasons.
While new fighters shake up the meta and give players new characters to learn and use, there is also a constant effort made to balance out gameplay, slightly buffing certain characters and nerfing others, giving everyone a chance to be viable at most levels of play.
Rather than rush to release game sequel after sequel, Bandai Namco and Capcom stretch the lifespans of their games, allowing for sales to remain constant through new characters and cosmetics, while also avoiding the massive costs of creating a brand-new game. There will certainly be sequels in the future, but the winning strategy right now is to make as polished a product as possible and reward players with ongoing support years after initially launching.
With that in mind, who else might make an appearance in Mortal Kombat 11?
Ash Williams - Missing In Action
News of Aftermath had us excited, but again asking the big question, “Where is Ash Williams?” At this point the leaks and tweets teasing his appearance over the last year are either true, indicating that the character will at some point make an appearance in the game, or an elaborate, twisted joke by NetherRealm studios. Neither is out of the question, but we firmly believe that he is still going to be added as DLC, eventually.
Fan Favorites
Without a doubt, there are fan favorite characters missing from the game that may or may not make an appearance. Online forums seem to be the most vocal about Mileena, the clone of Kitana created by Shang Tsung in his flesh pits for Shao Khan. It has been some time since Mileena was a playable character in the main series, excluding Mortal Kombat Mobile.
Smoke is probably the second most requested character for the game and has been absent as a playable character for longer than Mileena. Since Mortal Kombat 11 plays heavily with alternate history and the notion of time travel, we could see Smoke return as either his original ninja assassin form or later when he has been turned to a cyborg.
Speaking of cyborgs, Cyrax and Sektor would also make fine additions to the roster, though one could argue that the role of cybernetic character is now fulfilled with RoboCop arriving with Aftermath.
Ultimately, we cannot say if there will be more characters added to the game, but from a business perspective, it seems only logical for NetherRealm Studios to follow suit on the strategy of both Bandai Namco and Capcom to keep supporting the game for years to come with additional balance and characters, providing more sales and a firm foothold in the fighting community, even if EVO thinks they are too good for some good ol’ Mortal Kombat.
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