If you were hoping to snag Mortal Kombat X this year, but haven’t yet upgraded your console, nor possess a gaming-ready PC, then Warner Bros. has some bad news for you. After toiling for many additional months on the planned Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the ultra-violent fighter, Warner Bros. has simply decided that they weren’t working out, and has cancelled development of them. Online pre-orders for the game will simply be expunged without charge, though Warner Bros. encourages anyone who pre-ordered the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 version of Mortal Kombat X in-store at retailers like Gamestop/EB Games and Best Buy to seek a full refund of their deposit.
This is the third time that Warner Bros. has ended up scrapping planned last-gen ports of a 2015 game, though Mortal Kombat X at least held out a bit longer. Dying Light originally had plans for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, though the last-gen ports were cancelled several months before the game’s release on current-gen consoles and PC this past January. Likewise, movie-inspired open-world action game, Mad Max, which hits current-gen consoles and PC this coming Tuesday, also had last-gen ports announced for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 originally, though it wasn’t long before Warner Bros. changed their minds and cancelled them as well. The only games that Warner Bros. has successfully managed to bring to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this year as planned at this point are the LEGO titles of this year, namely this past June’s LEGO Jurassic World, and next month’s toys-to-life game, LEGO Dimensions, which still has Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 ports in the pipeline for now.
On issuing a statement regarding the cancellation of Mortal Kombat X on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Warner Bros. seemed to indicate that the planned last-gen ports just weren’t up to par with the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC versions of the game that launched this past April, and that’s why they decided to axe them. Those versions also happened to be outsourced to a separate developer, High Voltage Studios, who also handled the PC version of Mortal Kombat X, a port that was extensively criticized by PC gamers for technical issues, installation bugs and very poor online connection stability, all issues that were not present in the console builds for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which were developed in-house by Netherrealm Studios. This was also before Warner Bros. ended up in even more hot water with the PC gaming community later in the year, upon the release of the infamously buggy and poorly-performing PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight, which was also later revealed to be outsourced, and remains entirely removed from sale as the publisher tries to fix it up.
Evidence first arose that there was trouble with the last-gen versions of Mortal Kombat X after Warner Bros. announced that the planned Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions were delayed to June 2nd, and wouldn’t launch on schedule with the current-gen builds during April. Afterward, they missed the June 2nd date as well, then being placed in a vague Fall 2015 launch window. After that window appeared to look progressively more unlikely itself, it seems that Warner Bros. then just decided to cut their losses, and thus, the ports were cancelled.
Fortunately, you can still grab Mortal Kombat X both digitally and at retail on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and digitally for PC via Steam. We reviewed the game for its launch this past Spring on current-gen consoles and PC as well, and were quite fond of it, giving it a highly positive 85% verdict. We praised the visual design, fighting mechanics and vast selection of enjoyable play modes in the game, though we did criticize the obnoxious microtransactions and DLC practices, and we did also take issue with the poor quality of the PC port, in contrast to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One builds.
Keep tearing up Eggplante for all news and updates on the Mortal Kombat series.