Mortal Kombat 1 - Does it have crossplay?

Mortal Kombat 1 – Does it have crossplay?

Fighting games need plenty of online features to keep a healthy player base, which is why many fans are wondering if Mortal Kombat 1 will feature crossplay upon release.

With the game coming out on virtually every modern platform, crossplay would alleviate the pain of trying to pick the version that could potentially host the majority of players, allowing users to find plenty of matches online.

So, will MK1 feature crossplay once it is released? Let’s find out.

Will Mortal Kombat 1 have crossplay?

Mortal Kombat 1 crossplay

Credit: NetherRealm Studios

Crossplay is a must for fighting games

To put it simply, we don’t know if Mortal Kombat 1 will feature crossplay functionality at launch.

In the official MK1 frequently asked questions page published by NetherRealm Studios, there was mention of crossplay coming at a later date; however, this snippet was removed from the Mortal Kombat 1 FAQ page and is now nowhere to be seen.

It is expected that crossplay will be a feature available on both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X versions. These two are being developed directly by NetherRealm.

QLOC is working on the PC port, which will be available via Steam and the Epic Games Store, while Shiver Entertainment and Saber Interactive are working on the Nintendo Switch edition. So crossplay could be potentially harder to implement with these two versions.

It’s worth noting that Mortal Kombat 11, the previous title in the franchise, included crossplay across Sony and Microsoft’s consoles (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X). It did not, sadly, include the PC and Nintendo Switch versions.

This does not mean that crossplay between PC and consoles is impossible. Plenty of other fighting games in recent years, like Street Fighter 6 and Guilty Gear Strive, have this function.

The Nintendo Switch is a whole different beast. Recent games that have made their way to the hybrid console don’t include rollback netcode, like DNF Duel, making it impossible to implement crossplay.

Even with rollback netcode miraculously working it seems that developers have a hard time making crossplay work. MK11 is a perfect example, as it boasts the same online functionalities as other versions; however, Nintendo fans can’t queue up for matches against PlayStation or Xbox users.

So there you have it! We remain hopeful that Mortal Kombat 1 will feature crossplay at launch, as it could seriously impact the longevity of the online player base if it doesn’t.

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