Netherrealm Studios Need To Realize That Mortal Kombat is a Global Game

After months of patience and complaints, Netherrealm studios finally teased fans with a couple of new characters. Mortal Kombat fans everywhere were ecstatic that they finally got some new content for the game. The reveal that Rain, Mileena, and Rambo would be joining the fray was incredibly exciting. Even better was the fact that two of the three new characters are Mortal Kombat alumni, which seemed to show that the NRS was listening to the fanbase who had complained at the proliferation of 'guest' characters over originals.

Following that announcement, we've seen gameplay trailers for both Rain and Rambo, but nothing has been done for Mileena yet. Anticipation was high this week as fans expected to see some sweet Mileena action on Tuesday, which is one of the days the NRS typically releases announcements and trailers. However, fans were instead met with a message from the company saying that people should 'pause the game' and go and vote.

The reception was decidedly mixed and the attention paid to that post was amplified by the Mortal Kombat official Twitter handle's decision to lock its comment section.

There was a visual feast when rapper Megan Thee Stallion cosplayed as Mileena in an MK ad that we didn't even know we needed (although for some reason, her tweet promoting the ad is gone, and there's nothing on the official Mortal Kombat 11 Twitter handle). But, this was not enough to stop the questions asked by the community: should the rest of the world be deprived because of the American elections?

Mortal Kombat is a global game 

The question posed above is a very interesting one, and an understanding of where both sides are coming from is necessary for the sake of healthy debate. While Mortal Kombat is made by an American developer, it has a global fanbase, many of whom don't really care about the elections. Also, some of the fanbase isn't old enough to vote; therefore, they have all the time in the world to watch a trailer. In addition, the trailer is probably not going to be longer than three minutes, so is the point that people cannot watch a 3-minute trailer then go and vote? Or finish voting and come home to enjoy the trailer?

Meanwhile, perhaps it is also important to note that video games are an escape, and with the stress that the elections have caused, maybe going home to meet a gameplay trailer for a character you have been anticipating for a long time could make you feel better.

As a result of the delay, fans from other countries around the world will now be forced to wait. Should they have to? Maybe they do, because as mentioned earlier, NRS is an American developer and, therefore, are predisposed to care about an event as monumental as this year's election, and you could argue that people from other parts of the world should be understanding as to how much this means to the American people and wait just a little bit.

That said, I guess the real question is: would American fans be as understanding if a developer from another country delayed a much-anticipated announcement because of events in their home nation? To be honest, I don't think we can ascertain the answer because just as some fans from other parts of the world are understanding of the magnitude of the elections and are willing to wait for a trailer, there would also be a fair few Americans that would be understanding if the roles were reversed.

Or maybe...you know... people should realize that human lives, rights, and privileges are more important than video games