It’s easy to forget, among the dozens upon dozens of games that released last year, but Mortal Kombat finally received the compilation treatment in the form of the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection. The Kollection brought to modern hardware many of the classic MK titles, including the nostalgic but heavily-criticized Mythologies.
If you forgot, that’s totally OK because it seems that most of the MK fan base has also largely skipped out on this title.
We Were Right To Be Worried, Johnny Cage Is Horribly Miscast In Mortal Kombat 2
What is that accent?
What’s more, judging by available player counts on SteamDB, it seems most fans would rather play Mortal Kombat (2011), AKA Mortal Kombat 9, instead. Here’s the kicker: Mortal Kombat 9 has been delisted from Steam for at least five years.
Mortal Kombat 9 Was Always The Superior MK Experience, Anyway
To start, over the past 24 hours, the Legacy Kollection has topped out at 57 players, with its current player count sitting at 42. It’s a massive 95 percent drop from release (October 30) to today (January 11).
Meanwhile, in MK9 land, 61 players are actively playing the game, with 86 players overall having had a paly session in the last 24 hours alone.
Again, this is a title that has been delisted for years now. As for why it was delisted, when other Mortal Kombat titles are still available for purchase, it’s pretty simple: licensing.
MK9 famously reignited the “Guest Fighter” era when it brought Freddy Krueger to the fold. The trend of bringing movie, comic book or other video game characters would continue through later Mortal Kombat games and even make its way into other games in its genre.
However, as Game Rant reported back in 2020, the license for Krueger reverted from Warner Bros. back to its original owner, and it was almost certainly not extended, meaning the game had to be pulled from digital shelves.
As for the Legacy Kollection, well, despite having a number of “Klassic” MK titles, it simply wasn’t well-received at launch. Its “disappointing” multiplayer suite and lack of “basic features” at launch led early adopters to slam the game on Steam.
Patches continued to roll out for the game, but it seemed as if many players had already made up their minds.
Whether that ultimately prevents another such Kollection from ever releasing remains to be seen. There are still several MK titles, including the likes of Shaolin Monks and Armageddon, that remain stranded on old hardware. If those were to ever be released, then the player counts would almost certainly be quadruple.
- Released
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October 30, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence
- Developer(s)
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Digital Eclipse
- Publisher(s)
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Digital Eclipse, Atari, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
I Need To Stop Treating Video Games Like I’m Eating Vegetables
Some games just aren’t for me and I need to be okay with that.
