If you can believe it, Mortal Kombat 1 has been around for a month now (at least) and it’s been something of a rollercoaster for both NetherRealm Studios and fans of the fighting game. Players are still praising the game’s narrative and the fighters themselves, however, the monetization systems and the lack of content outside the core modes is leaving fans feeling frustrated with the experience. To make things a little worse for those of you who bought the Premium Edition of MK1, the MK1 Johnny Cage Jean-Claude Van Damme skin that was released as a Kombat Pack exclusive is now available for everyone to buy; it didn’t even last a full month.
Despite the teething issues, Mortal Kombat 1 is one of the best fighting games out there right now – and we think that’s set to continue, mechanically anyway. However, while there are some great Mortal Kombat 1 characters to play as and the Mortal Kombat 1 Kameo fighters add a new dynamic to the traditional format, it’s monetization is causing some friction with fans. It’s far from a bad thing that new MK1 Halloween skins seem to be coming soon, but the in-game cosmetics store is a confusing mess designed to get you spending as much of your money as possible. And, now, in under a month, exclusive cosmetics players paid more money to access is being made available to everyone.
As you can see below, for the next week, you’ll be able to buy the Jean-Claude Van Damme Johnny Cage skin from the store using buyable Dragon Krystals.
We know that, for anyone who just owns the Standard Edition of Mortal Kombat 1 without the Kombat Pack, this is good news. However, it’s indicative of a wider problem – the problem that Mortal Kombat 1 fans feel like NetherRealm Studios is insulting them with it’s monetization. As ‘Yomi_Themadfox‘ points out in a post highlighting the fact that the Jean-Claude Van Damme skin is available in the store, almost all of the cosmetics that cycle through this storefront are actually available for free via the Shrine.
From what we can tell, anything outside of the Deadly Alliance Scorpion skin and the Shang Tsung announcer pack is something you can earn for free through the Shrine. In a whole month, NetherRealm Studios has only released two new skins and an announcer pack. When you look at other games with aggressive monetization (Warzone, Fortnite, or Overwatch 2 – just to name a few), the sheer amount of new content MK1 is offering players pales in comparison.
Of course, you don’t actually have to spend any of your real money on in-game cosmetics, but Mortal Kombat 1 doesn’t actually make it clear which items are available in the Shrine and which aren’t. You can sometimes tell, if the cosmetics are a little lacklustre. However, there are some great alternative appearances available – like Kenshi’s Yakuza skin – and no way to know whether this is available for free in the Shrine or whether you have to buy it before it rotates out of the store.
Is this going to change anytime soon? We can only hope so, but there’s no telling whether it will or not. For now, Premium Edition players will just have to deal with the fact that the exclusive skin they paid for isn’t quite as exclusive as it could be.
If you’re trying to conquer Kombat League, though, and you’re not too fussed about cosmetics, you can find out updated Mortal Kombat 1 tier list and Mortal Kombat 1 Kameo tier list right here. They’re all a lot of fun to use, and there are some great combos out there, but some fighters still stand above the rest. We are about to get a new Mortal Kombat 1 trailer, though, which is exciting. Although, if you’re hoping for the MK1 Omni-Man release date, you may have to wait a little longer.