Mortal Kombat 1 Reaches 6.2 Million Sales as NetherRealm Pushes for Best Balance Yet

Mortal Kombat 1 has officially crossed 6.2 million units sold since its September 2023 launch, up from the 5 million milestone announced in January. The update came directly from Game Director Ed Boon via X, where he reaffirmed the studio’s goal of making MK1 the most balanced entry in the franchise’s history.

To support that vision, NetherRealm has released a new hotfix introducing a broad range of fighter adjustments, impacting damage output, hit properties, frame data, and special move behavior across the roster. Notable changes include:

• Ashrah: Increased Heaven attack damage during Absolving a Sin from 20 to 30.

• Havik: Altered Flesh Wound hit properties and increased combo scaling after Skab Stab.

• Kenshi: Allowed special cancels for Heighten Senses and improved recovery for Impaler.

• Li Mei: Faster recovery on Calculated and altered Sky Lantern to hit overhead when detonated by Nova Blast.

• Liu Kang: Enabled special cancels for Punishing Palm.

• Rain: Reduced startup on Water Beam by 3 frames.

• Reptile: Improved frame safety after specific strings when Flawless Blocked.

• Shang Tsung: Frame recovery improvements in Young Form and reduced damage for Spin Kick.

• Quan Chi: Faster startup on Psycho Skull, more blockstun and hitstun on several attacks, and adjusted hit regions.

• Omni-Man, Ermac, Homelander: Adjusted combo scaling for balance.

• Conan: Fixed rare hit registration issues and improved recovery on Barbarian's Blitz and Blade.

• T-1000: Adjusted hit properties and increased scaling after key throws.

• Cyrax & Sektor: Reduced meter gain and damage on bombs and grenades, plus rebalanced flamethrower damage.

While Mortal Kombat 1 has performed strongly, its sales pace is slower than Mortal Kombat 11, which reached 15 million units by October 2022, about three and a half years post-launch. With a year and a half remaining in the same sales window, MK1 would need another 8.8 million units sold to match its predecessor a tall order, even with discounts and ongoing updates.

You can read the full breakdown of changes and keep track of MK1’s balance updates directly from NetherRealm’s official channels.

Do you think NetherRealm’s aggressive balance patches will help MK1 gain longevity like MK11, or has the slower sales momentum already set its fate?