Killer Instinctjust received a sizable update 10 years into its lifespan. Amidincessant rumors of a newKiller Instinctinstallmentcoming soon, this without a doubt comes as a shock.
As a 2013 reboot of the Rare-developed fighting game duology from the 90s,Killer Instinctwas released as a launch title for the Xbox One, developed by Double Helix Games. The game garnered positive reviews for its gameplay, but was criticized for its lack of content at launch and reliance on DLC. Still, the game became quite popular, gaining new DLC packs as recently as 2016, and retaining a respectable audience even a decade after release.
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On May 17th, the officialKiller Instinctsite released a detailed description of the abrupt update, which went live on the same day. It’s mostly a quality of life patch, updating the game to Version 3.9.30917.1.290283 as a migration build. While the update is downloading, the site warned players ahead of time that the game would exhibit slower load times and a refreshed DLC timeout, which would temporarily restrict players' access tothe loads of extra characters and stages. However, one notable change is only present in the Xbox One version: purchases ofKiller Instinct Gold, an N64 port of the pre-reboot sequel, on the Xbox Store would be temporarily impossible. Thankfully, it can still be bought from theKiller InstinctStore, where it can be found under the Add-Ons section.
Furthermore, in typical patch fashion, other alterations to the gameplay were made as well. A glitch was fixed, preventing both players from losing points upon exiting Ranked Mode on Steam. Another glitch involving characters being inexplicably locked in the game’s Definitive Edition release was patched as well. This should make online play,as well asKiller Instinct’s sizable tournament scene, a much smoother and more enjoyable experience.
A common pattern in the gaming industry is to update current games ahead of their successors being announced or released, and this could be a sign of a newKiller Instinctinstallment coming in the future. Witheven Double Helix Games expressing interest in a sequelat some point, it can only be a matter of time before the public will hear from this iconic fighting game franchise again.
Killer Instinctis available for PC and Xbox One.
