Xbox Killer Instinct (2013) is getting a new balance update (+ Xbox Series enhancements) to celebrate it's 10th anniversary

[Krvavi Abadas]

they've been steadily keeping it active over the past few months, notably fixing the server issues it's being having. but this is the first proper patch in a while.
the definitive edition (which also includes the original two arcade games) has been on Game Pass for quite some time and frequently goes on sale for 10 dollars outside it, so you really have no reason not to try it.

 

[Mer.Saloon]

It's awesome when older games can get these updates.

 

[Yamanoi]

Im sure it was 4K on Xbox One X when I played a few years ago. Maybe this native release gives them the ability to do that for Series S. Either way good stuff.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

Awesome news. I really loved that they reintroduced the Arcade story mode of KI 2 with the multiple endings depending if you killed or did an Ultra Combo on certian characters (that was axed in the N64 KI Gold port).

 

[Jahranimo]

This is one of my favorite announcements from this EVO weekend. KI fans deserve the extra support (and a new game sometime this decade)

 

[JorgenRaft]

I really hope this is how Smash Ultimate is handled next gen. Just port it over and continue fighter passes.

 

[Krvavi Abadas]

Dear Combo Breakers,

James Goddard here! First of all, on behalf of everyone who’s ever worked on Killer Instinct, I’d like to thank you, our community, for ten amazing years of KI. Your support has made it possible for us to keep KI going, and we’re proud to be here on the game’s 10th anniversary to give you an update that we hope will excite fans new and old.

(link)

if you bought the Definitive Edition previously, you're getting the Anniversary Edition for free. which adds a permanent XP boost and a few extra cosmetics which were previously only sold seperately.

however, this new Anniversary Edition has removed the standalone Xbox One ports of the original two Arcade Killer Instinct games due to them having a higher age rating. which is concerning as they've never been sold seperately at any point.

this leaves the fairly expensive Arcade1Up cabinets as the only official way to play those original arcade games currently. Rare Replay has Killer Instinct Gold (the N64 port of 2) but that has various visual changes due to cartridge limitations.

as for the patch. it's entered "final testing" and sounds like it'll launch within a week or two.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

(link)

if you bought the Definitive Edition previously, you're getting the Anniversary Edition for free. which adds a permanent XP boost and a few extra cosmetics which were previously only sold seperately.

however, this new Anniversary Edition has removed the standalone Xbox One ports of the original two Arcade Killer Instinct games due to them having a higher age rating. which is concerning as they've never been sold seperately at any point.

this leaves the fairly expensive Arcade1Up cabinets as the only official way to play those original arcade games currently. Rare Replay has Killer Instinct Gold (the N64 port of 2) but that has various visual changes due to cartridge limitations.

as for the patch. it's entered "final testing" and sounds like it'll launch within a week or two.

I don't get why they can't just let both KI Classic available through KI Anniversary. Or even release it separatly.

 

[Rareware]

I don't get why they can't just let both KI Classic available through KI Anniversary. Or even release it separatly.

In the stream it was mentioned because they’re ‘M’ rated games. Why that matters now and not before with the Definitive Edition I’ve no idea. It was also mentioned that they’d “figure out what to do about the classic games at a later time”. So they’re not just forgetting about them.

 

[Krvavi Abadas]

You’ve been asking for years to allow Ranked Crossplay between Steam and Xbox/Windows. Thanks to some fancy new services, now available to us in Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition, we are going to give it an initial (very experimental) test run.

turns out they’re still not done updating the game. the testing period is from the 9th to the 12th.
Considering the recent discourse, I wouldn’t be surprised if people start speculating that the game is getting a Switch port soon.