Warner Bros already have a shaky reputation with PC gamers, as the studio has gone through some pretty bad mistakes in this market over the recent years. And while one would expect them to be on their best behavior right now and do everything in their power to regain the trust of their PC fans, the studio is paradoxically digging even further down into their own hole. The recent announcement that the PC version of “Mortal Kombat X” will be left behind and only console gamers would get to enjoy major new updates dealt a significant blow to the standing of the company with their fans, and some claim that there might not even be any way gamers will ever trust the studio in the future.
The announcement about “Mortal Kombat X” has been the focus of some heated discussions lately, and it looks like many gamers had been building up negativity about the studio for quite some time, and now they have the perfect reason to let it all out. Threads about the situation are typically very long and full of insightful posts, including older stories by users who point out that this is not even a new trend for Warner Bros, as the studio has handled many releases poorly in the past, including on the PC.
The main issue, according to some, is that the whole move feels like a bait-and-switch, as the game was released and sold with the implication that players will get fixes for any issues that arise through post-release updates. And when players got to have some fun with it, it became obvious that there definitely is a need for some fixes before it can truly be considered playable, especially in terms of network optimizations.
Those fixes are indeed coming, as they were referenced in statements about the situation, but PC gamers will not have access to them. And with that, we can probably forget about the idea of any kind of serious competitive scene evolving around “Mortal Kombat X” on that platform.
Which is a shame, because not only is the game one of the best candidates for a title with a strong focus on competitive gameplay, the PC is also a platform that could make this very easy. Console games can also attract large competitive crowds, admittedly, but the potential to succeed is typically greater on the PC where games can be further customized and fine-tuned by the community until they have reached perfection.
The situation is messy, to say the least – many suspect that the damage is already done and Warner Bros can’t really back out at this point. Even if the studio comes forward and promises major updates for the PC right now, many would still be skeptical of their motives and will be suspicious of the future. And they probably should be, because the company isn’t really giving any reassurance that they have a grip on the situation.
In an industry built around mutual respect to a large extent, we often see companies going under because they miscalculate the willingness of gamers to boycott their products when things go too far. Major franchises have been ruined precisely because of this, and if “Mortal Kombat” is the next onw, that would be a real shame given the long history of the game and the special place it has in the hearts of fans. Even if an eleventh installment came out later, it could face severe issues with its popularity.