As Tekken 8 approaches, Mortal Kombat 1 fans are feeling burned out

NetherRealm Studios is a celebrated fighting game studio that’s brought us tons of hits in both the Mortal Kombat and Injustice franchises. Even with that success, the studio isn’t immune from hard-to-impress fans who are increasingly demanding. Thus, the “NetherRealm cycle” comes for all its games eventually.

The cheeky term is one that’s been coined by the fighting game community. It signifies when a popular NetherRealm Studios game starts to decline in popularity. What once had fans excited at launch now produces complaints from a bored community that’s hungry for more. It was inevitable that the cycle would come for the studio’s most recent success, Mortal Kombat 1, eventually. What’s surprising, though, is just how fast it’s happening.

It’s only four months into Mortal Kombat 1‘s life and the bloody fighting game is already getting pushback from fans. That’s not just some whining from impatient players, though; the community has some legitimate grievances this time.

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A lacking Kombat

If you want to understand how miffed the Mortal Kombat 1 community is right now, just watch this damning criticism from YouTuber iScreamFGC ,who compares its current state to the early days of Cyberpunk 2077. That’s a loaded complaint, but it isn’t an outlier. Despite initial excitement over the game at launch, players have begun to point out areas in which it feels rushed now that the honeymoon phase with it is over.

That’s not a new critique either. Three months ago, world champion fighting game competitor Justin Wong stated that Mortal Kombat 1 felt like 80% of a full product. The common complaint from players who share this sentiment is that the game lacks features that are now expected of a modern fighting game.

Mortal Kombat 1 released on September 19, 2023 with