Mortal Kombat 11 will not feature loot boxes though microtransactions are going to make an appearance
Loot boxes have become a major point of contention in the modern video game landscape following major push back from fans in games like Star Wars Battlefront 2 to the point that governments are stepping in to regulate or investigate their potential ties to gambling in our hobby.
At their recent 'Making of Mortal Kombat 11' panel where Noob Saibot and Shang Tsung were revealed, NetherRealm Studios was asked by a member of the audience whether there would be microtransactions or loot boxes in the upcoming game to which Ed Bood had a short and sweet answer to.
"There are no loot crates in Mortal Kombat 11," said the co-creator of the long-running series.
That's where their response ended, however, so we still do not know what kind of microtransactions MK11 will feature when it launches though it may only be tied to skins going off of some previous statements.
"We try to make it so it's never pay-to-win and it's never pay-to-progress," said Paulo Garcia of NRS via . "It's just those extra cosmetics as far as like gear and characters. We try to make it where the gameplay stuff is the stuff you play and earn and use it like that."
All character variations that allow you to change up their move sets are said to be unlocked when you first boot up the game, so players will likely just need to unlock new equipment in the updated gear and augment systems though Garcia's statements make it appear that only cosmetics may be subject to potential real-world money along with the in-game currency.
Content creator Angry Joe also interviewed Ed Boon during their MK11 reveal event in January where the director assured Joe that the microtransactions would not make him angry.
Mortal Kombat X featured microtransactions for Easy Fatalities as well as the option to unlock all of The Krypt items all at once — which MK11 may also include — while Injustice 2 offered premium Source Crystals to buy Premier Costumes and speed up character progression.
NetherRealm Studios will likely go over what all will be in the game in the weeks leading up to its launch in April, but until then we can have our first taste of the new gear system in the closed beta which allows players to customize the moves and looks of Scorpion, Skarlet, Baraka, Jade and Kabal.
