Ed Boon breaks silence on Mortal Kombat 1’s ‘broken’ Nintendo Switch port

Mortal Kombat 1 has casual and hardcore fans fiending over its revamped gameplay but the Nintendo Switch version of the title leaves a lot to be desired. Performance and visual issues have soured the experience for fans on that platform and now co-creator Ed Boon has promised fixes coming to fix a “list” of problems. 

In an interview with the BBC, Boon stated that the team at NetherRealm Studios is aware of MK1’s Switch shortcomings and it will “absolutely be getting an update,” to address “a number of concerns.”

No specific concerns or errors were mentioned in the interview, leaving Boon’s comments vague in regard to what areas NRS is focused on addressing when it comes to the Switch port. He did, however, note that it is unfortunate that the game was released in its current state on the hybrid console and that the list of things to fix is being closely monitored. 

“It would have been ideal for us to have released the version that we absolutely wanted,” Boon said to the BBC. “But anything that we’re finding a problem with is on our list and is going to be fixed. Anything that we see that is not acceptable will absolutely be addressed.”

Boon urged fans who have already purchased the game on Switch not to worry about the future either because NRS plans to support it “like we did with Mortal Kombat 11.” That would seem to mean that the team is in it for the long haul and will be working to improve it throughout its, likely, three to four-year lifespan. 

While fans are going to continue tossing around and memeing the lack of facial animations and sheer gulf in quality between the Switch and other versions of MK1, it is important to note that only one change was made for this game’s port.

For MK11, which also released the same day on Nintendo Switch as it did on other platforms, NRS partnered with Shiver Entertainment to do the port work and went back to them for MK1. Shiver was acquired by Saber Interactive, and Embracer Group, in December 2021—so Saber is listed as a support studio on the MK1 port and its parent company has been going through a rough patch right now. 

That isn’t to say Embracer’s current woes, which include shuttering studios, mass layoffs, and potentially selling Gearbox impacted the port work done for MK1 but it was happening in the peripheral. Now we just have to wait and see how NRS acts upon these promises of improving the Switch port so it can potentially live up to the mostly positive reception MK11 had on the platform.