Mortal Kombat 11 is Plagued with Microtransactions



Sure, Raiden promises to defend Earth Realm, but he never said anything about it being free.

Mortal Kombat 11 released on April 23 to a mixed bag of reviews. On one side, reviewers were praising the game for its tight mechanics and added depth to the already complex series of fighting games. However, on the flip side, others were complaining about the game’s pushing of players towards microtransactions and the grindiness that comes from the Krypt, the game’s method of unlocking skins, icons, and large of assortment of other goodies.

In the Krypt, you take on the role of a nameless character and roam around Shang Tsung’s island. You spend coins and other currencies to open up chests that are essentially loot boxes, with each one containing a random assortment of gear or consumables. Of course, you can buy the currencies with real money via microtransactions.

The Krypt is almost universally received as poorly executed and has left a sour taste in the mouths of fans as the grind required to unlock things is abnormally intense once you combine the slow rate of gathering, the currencies and the randomized loot from each box. On top of that, some of the hardest challenge Towers in the game are considered impossible by even the best players without the consumables or rare gear from the loot boxes.

For example, a victory in an online fight nets you about 300 or so coins. The costs of chests range from a few thousand coins to over 10,000 coins each, and there is no guarantee that you will get any substantial items from any of the boxes. Many players and critics view this as the game pushing you to skip the grind by buying the currency with real money.

One reddit user actually did the math for the amount of money that it would take to own every skin in Mortal Kombat 11: over $6,000. While owning every skin is something that not many users will strive after, that amount of money for owning all the skins in the game should make anyone’s skin crawl.

The developers have acknowledged the grind and the impossible challenge Towers and have promised a patch. The Krypt may be fixed, but it will be difficult to regain the trust of many hurt Mortal Kombat fans.