Looks like everyone is eager to visit Outworld once again as Mortal Kombat 1 has emerged as the most pre-ordered game on the PlayStation 5.
As reported by The Gamer, this can be verified by quickly checking the rankings on the PlayStation store.
There are a few things notable about this new ranking. First off, the PlayStation store does separate pre-orders by SKU. So we know that Mortal Kombat 1 Premium Edition, is at the top of the charts. This is the one that comes with the Kombat Pack, Early Access to the game, and also first access to the DLC.
I should point out here, as we had reported, that there are more expensive SKUs of Mortal Kombat 1 as well. There will be a $109.99 Mortal Kombat 1 Premium Edition that comes with 1,250 Dragon Krystals, and a Mortal Kombat Kollector’s Edition, for $249.99, with 2,700 Dragon Krystals.
Getting back to the pre-order charts, what is interesting about this is that Mortal Kombat 1 jumps over a bunch of other heavy hitters arriving in a matter of weeks, far ahead of it. That includes not only its primary competitor for decades, Street Fighter 6, but also the likes of F1 23, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, Diablo 4, and Final Fantasy 16.
It’s certainly an impressive achievement, but if you think about it, this does not necessarily mean that more PlayStation gamers want Mortal Kombat 1 than Diablo 4, for example.
The pre-order charts reflect the number of new pre-orders that arrived for the PlayStation store, and not the total number of pre-orders. Diablo 4 was announced all the way back in 2019, and definitely saw the lion’s share of preorders arrive when they made it available first, not now that it’s so close to release.
So we shouldn’t overstate what Mortal Kombat 1 achieved here. It probably isn’t bigger than Diablo now, but there’s still good news to gleam for Ed Boon and NetherRealm Studios.
This means that NetherRealm’s recent promotional blitz worked. Fans are intrigued by the idea of another timeline reboot. In particular, a new Mortal Kombat universe shaped by Liu Kang, the chosen one, who has met his destiny and become the ruler of time, and the god of lighting and fire, offers new thrills for fans who actually care about the characters. It doesn’t hurt that it looks like it will be the most violent incarnation in the series yet.
Mortal Kombat 1 will be releasing on September 19, 2023, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Windows via Steam and Epic Games Store.