Since its release, Mortal Kombat 1 desync issue has plagued the online matches.
Netherealms promised a fix via an update, but this did not solve the issue.
Here is what the issue is and why it’s killing the game.
Mortal Kombat 1 Desync Issue
A stable online connection is important for online games, especially fighting games. This is the reason arguments over things like rollback and netcode still persist to this day.
But Netherrealms’s Mortal Kombat 1 has a much bigger, more noticeable issue. Ever since the release of DLC fighter Quan Chi, matches have been abruptly ended by a desync issue.
This issue, known as desync, is essentially when your device, another player, or even the server itself lags so much that it causes disruption to all parties. In Mortal Kombat 1, the way this works is that the match is immediately ended.
There is no penalty or gain from a desync; it is just a straight kick to the main menu. This is not an issue when it occurs in games once or twice. However, if this happens in any other match, then there is a huge problem.
Since December’s rollout of the DLC character, many players have reported desync issues. This has caused many players to become frustrated with the game itself. This is not an isolated incident, either.
It has gotten so bad that Ed Boon, the producer of the game, has commented on Twitter about it!
And with Street Fighter 6’s online running smoothly and Tekken 8 on the horizon, this could be a fatality in the making for the MK1 online scene.
A patch to this problem was rolled out in January earlier this month, and yet the problem still remains.
Netherrealms assures us that they are still working on the issue.
Mortal Kombat 1
Mortal Kombat 1 is a 2023 fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Games. It is the twelfth main installment in the Mortal Kombat series and serves as its second reboot after 2011’s Mortal Kombat (2011). The game was released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox One Series X/S on September 19, 2023.
In addition to being a reboot, the game is also a sequel to 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11, taking place in a new timeline directly created by Liu Kang in his ending of 11’s Aftermath expansion.
In this new timeline, Fire God Liu Kang assembles a clique of fighters to participate in the latest Mortal Kombat tournament in Outworld while contending with an alliance formed by Titan Shang Tsung.
Mortal Kombat 1 received generally positive reviews from critics, although the Nintendo Switch version was criticized for its graphics and technical issues. The game sold nearly 3 million copies as of November 2023.
The Mortal Kombat 1 Desync Issue was first noticed during December 15th during the release period of Quan Chi.
Netherrealms released a patch during the Janurary period to fix these issues but so far the issue still remains.
