Mortal Kombat 1 has been announced. The game will pick up where Mortal Komnbat 11's Aftermath DLC left off, with Liu Kang seemingly the supreme power of Earthrealm after having vanquished Shang Tsung. Or maybe not, as Shang Tsung is shown to appear through a fiery portal in yesterday's announcement trailer.
Besides just announcing the game, NetherRealm studios also promised a host of new gameplay features coming to Mortal Kombat 1, including Kameo Fighters. From the description on the official site, Kameo Fighters will be assist characters similar to other fighting games like King of Fighters or Marvel vs. Capcom. You'll choose your Kameo fighter from a separate roster of non-playable characters in order to have them assist you during fights.
While this sounds like the perfect opportunity for non-Mortal Kombat characters to make an appearance, such as the rumored Homelander, Peacemaker, and Conan the Barbarian, fans are more worried that NetherRealm will relegate beloved Mortal Kombat favorites to being mere Kameos.
"I don't like this, it sounds like a very cheap way of saying ‘we brought back these characters but they are not fully playable," wrote one concerned Mortal Kombat fan on the franchise's subreddit. "I really hope I am wrong 'cause I don't want to see Smoke and Ermac as Kameo characters."
Fans have listed off a number of Mortal Kombat characters that have appeared in previous games but didn't make it into the most recent Mortal Kombat titles, such as Reiko, Havik, Asharah, Stryker, Smoke, Ermac, and the acid-spewing lizard boy, Reptile.
"I asked for Reptile to be in the game," a Reptile fan wrote, "and the MonKey's paw curled a finger."
"I'm really nervous about this," another fan agreed.
"Yeah, it reads like a lot of the more niche favorites don't have a shot."
Others made comparisons to another fighting game franchise that became famous for its expansive roster but continually disappointed some by relegating niche characters to Assist Trophies. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate technically has hundreds of beloved video game characters, but they're only accessible through the mechanically similar Assist Trophy item.
"The assist trophy curse begins again," one Redditor ominously wrote.
It's too soon to tell just who will be Kameo Fighters and who will be playable. We know that Mortal Kombat 1 will have a Kombat Pack with six playable characters (including Johnny Cage) and five Kameo Fighters. More details will surely be shared as we get closer to Mortal Kombat 1's September 19th launch date.