Category: News

Classic characters Tremor and Tanya will be making their return to the Mortal Kombat franchise in its upcoming tenth installment, according to a new press release from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

Similar to the series’ more iconic faces, Tremor is a ninja, capable of causing earthquakes and throwing stones with his earth-controlling powers. His appearance in Mortal Kombat X will mark the first time he’s been fully playable, though he did make a limited appearance in Mortal Kombat 9’s challenge tower.

Tanya, on the other hand, first debuted as a playable cast member in Mortal Kombat 4. Due to her rapidly shifting allegiances, she’s likely to play a large part in Mortal Kombat X’s story–though on whose side is anybody’s guess.

These veterans will be released alongside guest characters Jason Voorhees and the Predator through the title’s Kombat Pack, a downloadable bundle of goodies that’s set to include a ton of skins with each cast expansion.

First, the Ultimate Horror pack will add Jason and appropriately themed skins for Mileena, Reptile, and Ermac. Tanya will be made playable in the initial Klassic Pack, which will also include retro costumes for Kano, Sonya, and Liu Kang. Some time after that, Predator will be made available alongside outfits for Johnny Cage, Scorpion, and Jax Briggs (turning the metal-armed fighter into Carl Weathers). And finally, the second Klassic Pack brings Tremor back into the spotlight with call-backs for Quan Chi, Jax, and Kung Lao.

You may have noticed a few characters in there, namely Liu Kang and Jax Briggs, that we haven’t heard much about in the past few months, further confirming their involvement in the new installment.

Although we don’t have any clear indication of when these packs will be released, we do know they will come one by one, and those who purchase the Kombat Pack or one of the highly-priced premium editions will get their hands on them sooner than the rest.

Mortal Kombat X is scheduled to land on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on April 14, with a summer released planned for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Source: Test Your Might via Haketh, Wario64

In addition to highlighting a ton of new characters during yesterday’s Mortal Kombat X broadcast, the folks at NetherRealm Studios also gave some love to the upcoming title’s Test Your Luck and Kustom Kombat modes. Crafted more for fun than outright competition, these gameplay options remix matches by way of a variety of modifiers that affect things like gravity, stage size, and more.

One thing that wasn’t given a whole lot of attention, however, is that some of these modifiers are actually assists from veteran Mortal Kombat characters. IGN spotted quite a few, including Rain’s bubble, Stryker’s grenades, and Cyrax’s bombs, as well as unspecified backup from Smoke and Kabal.

While some theories peg these as hints more classic characters will join the playable cast, it’s very likely they can also function as deconfirmations of their inclusion, as no confirmed cast member showed up with an assist in the small bit of Test Your Luck footage we were treated to.

Modifiers will be unlocked by completing tower challenges, so it’s also possible limited versions of these fighters will appear in some form throughout those missions.

What do you think? Can we expect Rain, Smoke, Stryker, Cyrax, and Kabal to show up as playable characters, or will they be confined to this entertaining game mode for the time being? Feel free to let us know in the comments.

Source: NetherRealm Studios via IGN and VG24/7

Much like with previous character launches, Iron Galaxy Studios plans to attach a bunch of content to Hisako’s release, including a brand new retro skin for fellow season two fighter Riptor, balance changes for a majority of the cast, and more.

Feeling as if a static image wouldn’t do her justice, Microsoft Studios’ Adam Isgreen has released a quick Vine of Riptor’s retro outfit, revealing a more classic, organic look than her current digs.

Of course, the meat of this patch will lie in its balance changes, and there’s quite a few. Due to being the most recently released character, Aganos sees its fair share of adjustments in this update, but folks like Kan-Ra, Fulgore, and Orchid haven’t been forgotten. Give the list a scan below and let us know what you think.

System Changes

• Fixed an issue that allowed you to use a Counter Breaker after a manual all the way up until the manual was over, even well after the Breaker window had passed. Now, you can only use the Counter Breaker if your opponent is still in their Breaker window. This prevents a bug where you could do your Counter Breaker very late after a juggle hit and break the game’s physics for the rest of the match.
• The Natural Born achievement for reaching Killer tier is fixed. People that are currently in Killer will receive it after playing 1 match in Killer once they update to 2.5.

Thunder

• Move Change: Call of Sky (Projectile Attack Move) has been removed from the game and replaced with Call of Sky (Dash Buff Move).
• The new Call of Sky strikes Thunder with a bolt of lightning, causing him to enter a charged state and crackle with electricity.
• His next dash will consume his charged state and be replaced with an Instinct dash (Murder of Crows), including all of its features.
• You can only hold one charge at a time, but hitting Thunder will not remove his charge. The charge will expire if unused after 8 seconds.
• The team felt that the old Call of Sky was not accomplishing the goal of forcing players to fight you at a bit less than full screen. We also felt that it was a bit too difficult to get in during certain matchups, and this new Call of Sky is a fun and versatile way to extend Thunder’s arsenal in the spirit of a grappler.

Jago

• Increased the size of hitboxes on the Tiger’s Fury Enders so they won’t ever miss crouching opponents.

Glacius

• Cold Shoulder attack box goes deeper into Glacius’ body.
• Light version becomes active 2 frames earlier.
• Medium version becomes active 3 frames earlier.
• Heavy version becomes active 4 frames earlier.
• This change should help with being able to wipe out Kan-Ra’s swarms using Cold Shoulder as intended.
• Frame advantage increased on Cold Shoulder to match earlier startup noted above. When close, advantage is the same as before. Better than before advantage is possible now when hitting late.
• Fixed a bug causing his Puddle Punch Enders to drop when cursed by Kan-Ra.
• Made his grab attack box taller so that characters couldn’t sneak under it in unintended ways.

Orchid

• F+HK is now immune to throws from frame 9 until 39.
• Orchid can now cancel Ich Ni San into Shadow moves on block.
• Shadow Uppercat is no longer counted as in-air until frame 2. This should increase the priority of its first hit.
• Fixed a bug that got introduced in the Aganos update that caused Orchid’s Ultra Ender to cause an air wall splat instead of the expected ground wall splat.

Fulgore

• Fulgore’s Heavy Eye Laser now travels a reduced distance.
• Light and Medium Eye Beams when used as Manuals are now breakable.
• You can now cancel Devastation Beam into Instinct Activation.

TJ Combo

• Performed a full cancel window pass on Auto Doubles, Linkers, and Shadow Linkers to make responsiveness and feel more similar to Season 1.
• Tremor’s Shockwave doesn’t come out behind TJ anymore.
• Knee attacks have more recovery, but inflict more blockstun. Frame disadvantage will be similar on block.
  Spin Fist is now 0 on block, instead of +1.
• When used as part of a combo after a Wall Splat, Shoot Toss damage has been greatly reduced.

Maya

• Performed a full cancel window pass on Auto Doubles, Linkers, and Shadow Linkers to make responsiveness and feel more similar to Season 1.
• Fixed a bug that allowed Maya to use forward dash into HK before the round begins.

Kan-Ra

• Performed a full cancel window pass on Auto Doubles, Linkers, and Shadow Linkers to make responsiveness and feel more similar to Season 1.
• Recovery after Sacrifice is now longer, and the attack box size of the explosion has been reduced. Characters who read this with a jump back won’t be hit as easily and should have enough time for a punish in most situations now. Kan-Ra will not be able to replace his Sand Trap for free on hit anymore, either.
• The startup portion of Swarm is now a projectile instead of a physical hit, so you can projectile invulnerable through it as expected.
• Standing Heavy Kick (Sand Spray) and Crouching Heavy Kick (Anti Air Sand Upheaval) are no longer counted as physical hits, and are now projectiles so that you can use projectile invulnerable attacks to go through them as expected.
• All HK “Sand” Buttons are now considered Special moves.
• Linker Shadow Swarm can now manual into Heavy buttons.
• Jumping Heavy Kick (Dune) is now breakable.
• Fixed a bug causing Kan-Ra’s backdash to not have invulnerability. Also realigned his Head vulnerable box on his forward dash.
• Fixed a bug that caused whiffing a c.HK (Sand Upheaval) to turn any knockdown into a hard knockdown.
• Fixed a bug that let Kan-Ra cancel Shadow Linkers into another Linker.

Riptor

• Performed a full cancel window pass on Auto Doubles, Linkers, and Shadow Linkers to make responsiveness and feel more similar to Season 1.
• Fixed a bug causing Riptor to recover from Throw attempts 7 frames faster than the rest of the cast.
• Fixed a bug causing Shoulder Charge Enders (Lv2, 3, and 4) to deal more damage than intended.
• Fixed a bug that caused Talon Rake, Flame Carpet, Flame Arc, and Flame Wall to remove Aganos’ Chunks on block.
• Fixed a bug that caused an unbreakable Opener->Ender situation after Predator MK Tail Stings.

Aganos

• Natural Disaster Hop now hits overhead on the way down only.
• Natural Disaster Hop causes a hard knockdown on airborne opponents so they cannot quick rise to punish this on hit.
• Close Standing MP now hits overhead.
• Shadow Natural Disaster is much lower profile on startup and while being held. It is also projectile immune on startup and while held, but not while moving forward.
• Shadow Natural Disaster’s final hit can recapture airborne opponents. It has a larger auto double cancel window as a result, and a shorter manual cancel window (though a heavy manual is still possible.)
• New Command Normal – Back + LP anti air flick. Still has flick’s projectile destroying properties.
• All LP buttons have larger projectile destroy boxes.
• Ender damage tweaked. Pulverize and Natural Disaster Enders hit a bit harder. Low level Payload Enders do a bit less.
• Fixed a bug that allowed you to Instinct Cancel Shadow Ruin on hit. Also fixed a bug preventing you from using an Instinct Cancel on block.
• Fixed a bug that caused manuals to change speeds depending on Chunks, leading to inconsistent linker to manual rules depending on chunk load.
• Fixed a bug that caused Walls to not take damage on Aganos’ knockdown if that knockdown killed him in some situations.
• Fixed a bug preventing Light Natural Disaster Linker from working after some Manuals.
• Fixed a bug prevented specials from coming out using the Heavy Punch button during the Light>Medium Peacemaker chain combo.
• Fixed a bug that caused a Heavy Kick to sometimes come out after activating Instinct.
• Fixed a bug that caused Level 4 Pulverize Ender to whiff if you used a Heavy Kick Auto Double before it.
• Fixed a bug that prevented the Peacemaker from breaking when Aganos attempts a Counter Breaker.
• Fixed a bug preventing Peacemaker from breaking when you start Shadow Natural Disaster.
• Fixed a bug that caused Wall Crashes to play during Hitstop, making those moves unbreakable instantly.
• Fixed a bug that could cause Natural Disaster to roll the wrong way after whiffing a Ruin.
• The size of Aganos’ Yellow character collision box is reduced after frame 6 of recovery from a blocked Ruin. This was preventing certain moves from punishing the recovery.
• Fixed a bug that prevented the KV penalty on multiple recaptures after an Ultra from triggering.
• Fixed a bug that caused the Level 2 version of Pulverize Enders to whiff after HK Auto Doubles.

No word has been shared as to when this update will officially launch, but players can expect it to drop sometime before the end of the month.

Source: Ultra-Combo

As I’m sure many of you are aware, Final Round 18 is scheduled to kick off later today. One of the few North American events that can even come close to Evolution’s stature, this east coast tournament series regularly boasts large turnouts and incredibly hype moments every year.

Plus, as Capcom Pro Tour 2015’s first premier stop, talented players from around the world have made the trip to Atlanta, Georgia to earn their spot at Capcom Cup and pick up some extra cash along the way.

Unfortunately, information on the event has been hard to come by the past few weeks. With the recent release of pool assignments, we decided to take the time and break down just who will be competing across Final Round’s official lineup this weekend.

Please keep in mind that these are likely far from complete, seeing as last minute sign-ups will be available for competitors today, but they should offer up a good idea of the big names involved in each game. Feel free to let us know who we missed in the comments!

In addition to the singles tournaments, two notable team exhibitions are scheduled for the weekend as well: Curleh Mustache Battle Royale 5 and Battle By the Backyard, focusing on Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- respectively.

While full team lineups for the former have been hard to come by, you’ll find info on both of these events below.

As for when games will start each day, we’ve also gone ahead and organized the full tournament schedule below according to the various broadcasts. As always, these run at Tournament Standard Time, so expect some fluctuation.

As you can see, Final Round 18 is sure to be pretty crazy, so look out for our full tournament article later today for complete coverage.

Sources: Final Round, Shinobi, Dustloop

Before there was BROKENTIER, before the Underground Syndicate Asked “When’s Mahvel?”, before we had shirts complaining about behavior on TeeSpring, even before Street Fighter IV revitalized the community, Bishop “Shatterstar” Wagner, or Shatta as he was known to those in the community, made one of the first lines of apparel for our community: Negro Install.

Originally starting from a joke turned into a bet, his clothing soon represented going beyond what you considered your limits, striving for success, and overcoming all obstacles, laying the groundwork for other folks to start many of the enterprises we see today.

Now why, you may be asking, are we writing about this? Because Shatta needs our help. He’s currently fighting one of the most important battles of his life against cancer. As anybody who has either had to endure such a disease or even just witnessed a family member go through this battle knows, it’s far from easy. It is a long, drawn out ordeal that tests the endurance of both the patient, their friends, and their family.

Fortunately for Shatta, a couple of charities, Hope for Young Adults With Cancer and Sy’ Fund, have helped him out during this time of need. Now, to be able to help these same charities, Shatta has created his own fundraiser to give back. He’s not asking for people to raise money for him personally; rather, he wants to help the organizations continue their efforts so that other young adults can receive the same support.

Those interested in helping out can head on over to In the Black Label’s page on Crowd Rise. The campaign, which carries the motto “We Black On to Black Out Cancer” is hoping to make $10,000 from the sale of t-shirts, hoodies, and fitted caps. If the goal is met, a portion of the proceeds will to both charities (with the rest of the money being spent on the actual production of the items for sale). Even if that goal isn’t met, however, 10% will still be given to the organizations in question.

For more information, head on over to the official thread on the forums. In the meantime, here’s some words from Shatta himself.

After taking a hiatus in 2014, one of Brazil’s largest fighting game tournaments returns this November with Treta Championship Pride.

Players from Brazil and beyond will converge on Curtiba, Parana state to compete in games like Ultra Street Fighter IV, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, Mortal Kombat X, King of Fighters XIII, Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

Originally started as a way for the Brazilian scene to have its own major tournament, Treta Championship had its biggest tournament to date in 2013 with Treta Aftermath, which saw players such as HORI’s Sako Naoto fly in from abroad to compete.

Treta Championship Pride is scheduled for the weekend of October 31 at Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Parana.

Source: Treta Championship, thanks to thiagoeis for the tip

Well, this is pretty awkward.

According to Mortal Kombat X’s newly-added listing on Xbox Live (which also revealed the Samurai Pack we reported on earlier tonight), a Predator from the classic film franchise of the same name will be playable in the once-mysterious Kombat Pack.

Dubbed the Ultimate Hunter, the ferocious Yautja definitely live up to their colloquial name thanks to a variety of advanced weaponry and the ability to camouflage themselves to the point of near-invisibility. What skills they’ll bring with them to the Mortal Kombat universe remain to be seen, but it’s hard to argue with how perfectly they’re likely to fit into the bloody fighter.

Like fellow guest character Jason Voorhees and two classic Mortal Kombat cast members that have yet to be announced, the Predator is scheduled to release sometime after launch. Those who purchase the Kombat Pack or the pricy Premium Edition bundle will be granted early access.

Mortal Kombat X will arrive on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on April 14, with PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 releases planned for this summer.

Source: Xbox Live, special thanks to Haketh for the tip.

Mortal Kombat X’s listing on Xbox Live was recently updated with some rather incredible art of the game’s very first skin bundle, the Samurai Pack.

The package will include costumes for Kitana, Shinnok, and Kenshi based on feudal Japan. At this point in time, however, it doesn’t appear as if it will be made available outside of the Premium Edition bundle, which runs $80.99.

Additionally, the developers themselves revealed during today’s broadcast that they will be including a special Scorpion skin in Mortal Kombat X based off a piece of fan art.

Last September, NetherRealm Studios launched the Kombat Kollective, an outlet for fans of the Mortal Kombat series to show off their artistic prowess to other like-minded individuals. The site has collected (kollected?) a huge amount of uploads since it went live six months ago including original visual art that ranges from cartoony concepts to comics to cosplay, as well as some fun original music tracks.

While an amazing resource for fans of the Motal Kombat universe, the inclusion of fear-sAs’ Scorpion skin is perhaps the most exciting thing to come out of the Kollective so far. The costume, which has been dubbed Kold War Scorpion, shares much in common with the Red Son skins from Injustice: Gods Among Us.

No in-game footage of the skin has been released yet, nor have any details surrounding how we can go about getting our hands on it for ourselves, but we do have a video from fear-sAs that shows the process that went into creating this soon-to-be alternate costume.

Sources: Xbox Live via r/MortalKombat, NetherRealm Studios, fear-sAs, special thanks to Haketh for his help.

Tekken 7 officially launched in game centers throughout Japan (as well as a single arcade in South Korea) earlier this week, bringing a host of brand new characters, gameplay mechanics, and more to the competitive scene. While we’ve already seen some leaks regarding possible future characters, the game as it stands now already includes someone we may see playable in the future: Kazumi Mishima.

The clan matriarch appears in Tekken 7 as the arcade mode’s final boss, facing off against the player in her normal form before shifting to Devil mode for a power boost, similar to other Mishima family members like Kazuya and Jin Kazama.

According to Bandai Namco Games’ Katsuhiro Harada, Kazumi’s inclusion in the main roster hinges on two things. “We have some ideas for making Kazumi playable in Tekken 7,” the director told Famitsu, “but it’s dependant on the fan’s reaction and demand for her.”

With the buzz her initial tease in the title’s very first reveal created, we’re sure Harada has had (and will have) no shortage of requests that Kazumi be made playable. It’s only a matter of time.

Source: Famitsu via Flying Wonkey

Good news for all your Mortal Kombat fans out there: Mortal Kombat X on PlayStation 4 will be compatible with PlayStation 3 arcade sticks.

Playing fighting games during the move to new platforms has become a huge investment, and very few developers have alleviated these issues by making older peripherals work on the current consoles. This is all despite the fact that Lab Zero Games has already done all the work for them as they transition Skullgirls Encore to Sony’s latest gaming platform.

In fact, NetherRealm Studios licensed the driver necessary for this functionality from Lab Zero themselves, showcasing some great cross-developer collaboration.

These details were first shared during today’s broadcast and later confirmed by creative director Ed Boon. Kudos NetherRealm!

Sources: NetherRealm Studios, Lab Zero Games, Ed Boon via NeoGAF