Mortal Kombat creator open to removing MK1 gore so streamers can monetize content

Mortal Kombat’s Ed Boon has responded to the possibility of a sanitized streamer-friendly mode in order to allow content creators to make money off MK1 gameplay.

Violence and gore are synonymous with Mortal Kombat and have been since the game’s inception in the 90s with its gruesome fatalities, but that could be changing a bit.

Twitch streamers and content creators looking to make money off the game might have some trouble thanks to the gore making it difficult to monetize.

In a recent interview, Ed Boon addressed streamers’ concerns and explained that balancing violence while maintaining the game’s identity can pose a “dilemma.”

Ed Boon doesn’t rule out streamer mode for Mortal Kombat 1

Speaking with IGN, Boon was asked if he’d ever consider a streamer safe mode without blood in order for content creators to make money off their gameplay.

“Let’s say we had a mode that turned off all the blood or something or didn’t have fatalities or something like that. Part of it is… part of the definition of Mortal Kombat is those things. And so to strip away an entire layer of it, do we really want that to be the main representation that is of the game online?” he pondered.

Obviously, having a goreless online version of the game could alienate a lot of players who have grown accustomed to Mortal Kombat’s over-the-top bloody fights. However, while Boon isn’t totally against a streamer mode, finding the right balance poses some challenges.

“Now, granted to me it’s not like, ‘Okay, so that’s a deal breaker. We’re never going to do it.’ I’m always trying to think what can we do to keep the spirit of what the game is, but also allow streamers, because I’m fully aware of streamers, to show the game and make content based on the game. I think that’s the dilemma,” he explained.

It will be interesting to see if Mortal Kombat 1 ends up adding a streamer mode down the line in a future update, but for now, it doesn’t seem like it will launch with such a feature.

Keep it locked to Dexerto for more Mortal Kombat 1 news and updates ahead of its launch on September 19.