To everyone’s shock at the fighting tournament EVO, Killer Instinct (2013) is getting an optimization patch for Series X|S alongside a balance update “this fall”. James Goddard showed up with the new role of “Head of Killer Instinct” to deliver the news. Iron Galaxy is returning after five years away from the franchise to handle the “Year 10 update”. More was hinted at, but not announced for the game as well moving forward.
Our friends @IronGalaxy are back! And together, we’re bringing you Killer Instinct's free 10th Anniversary Update later this year – including a balance update, improved matchmaking, and 4K support for Series X|S.
Not into fighting games anymore but Microsoft getting Iron Galaxy to work on a current generation upgrade for Killer Instinct is great news. Once the ABK deal is finalized, Microsoft should really try to acquire Iron Galaxy so they can have their fighting game studio. Hoping that with or without acquiring Iron Galaxy, this announcement leads into Killer Instinct 2 before the generation ends.
On a side note - acquiring ABK is going to really light a fire under Microsoft in regards to looking at past franchises and IP’s. They turn the servers back on for the Xbox 360 COD games, then Gears of War, then that Shadowrun Xbox 360 game and now make a deal with Iron Galaxy for a current generation upgrade for Killer Instinct. Add in the possibility of a new future Spyro, Crash, etc. and perhaps other IP’s like Banjo/Conker, etc. and damn, they’ll be hitting on all cylinders.
I saw the announcement live and I have to say I am quite happy as this means I’ll definitely be getting back into it in some manner and it’ll look glorious! Kinda wish Ken Lobb would have been there as well as he was also a instrumental part of the game in my opinion.
I just watched it and Goddard ended with, “You guys made this happen. This is why we did it and this is why we’re doing a balance update and a major, major upgrade to all Playfab services so your matchmaking is a lot smoother, tournaments are easier, and more KI for the next 10 years.”
I think you could interpret it in two ways: one being that the support will ensure that the game will be updated so that it can be played throughout this next generation. The other being that this fan support means more life for the series in general.
Iron Galaxy is free from port and live service game (which was promising), so while hard to say they will be the developer for the next game, they could still provide helping hand alas support.
There’s now a “Head of Killer Instinct”. That’s a pretty good sign that more are coming. Can you imagine the cross over potential with all of the IP MS now owns?
An optimistic interpretation of this would be that there might be a KI that has been under development for several years. Not a certainty, but a possibility. The man does work on other projects, after all.
However, I do agree that the existence of somebody as a “head of KI” is a sign that MS is thinking about a future of the franchise at al evel more seriously than just an occasional “wouldn’t it be nice” comment when somebody asks Spencer about it during interviews.
When they said to stay as they had 1 more thing to show I definitely expected more, like a new game. Then I was like, ok, maybe a new season?
I’ll still take anything KI that they bring, the fact the are trying to keep it alive bodes well for a sequel in my opinion and is a show of good faith on MS’ part and signifies in my opinion that they are committed to the fighting game community which is a good thing.
