Sometimes the scariest part of the fall can be the cobwebs forming in gamer’s wallets after a plethora of pricey new releases. Mortal Kombat 1 has helped amplify that innate fear with a Halloween Fatality that costs players around $12.
Mortal Kombat 1’s Halloween Fatality will run kombatants 1,200 Dragon Krystals, the franchise’s in-game currency. Though 500 Dragon Krystals can be earned upon completion of Mortal Kombat 1‘s story mode, the only other way to accumulate them is through in-game purchases. Real-life pricing on Dragon Krystals scales based on how many units a player is purchasing at once, meaning the cost of the Halloween fatality can clock closer to $10 for some players. However, even the slightly lower end of that price range has caused an outcry from fans regarding the overpriced nature of the single seasonal DLC.
While gamers have grown accustomed to in-app purchases in “freemium” games, this model becomes harder to justify for a titles like Mortal Kombat 1 with its existing $70 price point. The fighting game also offers a Premium Edition at around $110 and a Kollector’s Edition running closer to $250, though these higher tiers come with a certain amount of Dragon Krystals included with purchase — 1,250 for Premium and 2,700 for Kollector’s.
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The Halloween Fatality in Mortal Kombat 1 allows a kombatant to affix a rotting pumpkin to their opponent’s head and then kick the resulting dismembered Jack-O-Lantern onto a porch. While the Halloween sequence is based on a classic Scorpion fatality and includes small Easter Eggs to the franchise within the porch’s décor, the cost of the move has dominated fan conversation over the content. Not only are fans outraged by the price point, they’re encouraging other players on social media not to pony up for the pumpkin.
