
The Xbox version of Killer Instinct has now been around for 10 years, and to celebrate this milestone, Iron Galaxy is back to deliver a special anniversary update "later this year".
This announcement was made at EVO 2023 this weekend - with the Killer Instinct team confirming this update would include a balance patch, improved matchmaking, "4K support for Xbox Series X|S" and more.
Head of Killer Instinct James Goddard noted how the preparation for all of this originally began with the update in May and mentioned how excited he was to welcome back the team at Iron Galaxy. While Killer Instinct and Season 1 was originally developed by Double Helix, Iron Galaxy took over after this - releasing Season 2 (2014) and Season 3 (2016).
Once again, more information about all of this will be delivered soon - so be on the lookout for an update in the near future. It's also worth mentioning how the game's Xbox One X update added support for native 4K, and the game is already fully backwards compatible with Xbox Series X|S.
Excited about this news? Leave a comment below.
[source eventhubs.com]
Comments 16
Nice. Yet another example of XB supporting good games over a long period of time, providing significant improvements without charging gamers.
This is great news, hope this is the boost that helps KI get a sequel.
Iron Galaxy not the best choice coming off their last project
The only thing that they should have fixed ages ago is the loud sound effects when the soundtracks are playing on the bonus application, another botched job by Code Mystics, that lacks the most basic sound settings. Iron Galaxy has been supporting the game nicely. It's a good year to update it, with Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and Tekken all getting new titles.
As for the The Last of Us port comments, why do you think that Killer Instinct is always polished and that PC port not? Perhaps because Sony didn't give them enough time and resources? Most Sony games run poorly on PC at launch, regardless of developer. Digital Foundry has a lot of videos about it.
Isn't this the same game that has gotten or will get new server infrastructure to better ensure it can still matchmake and host games into the future?
And now I see that yes it is, in the linked article section, not necessarily linked in the article. But awesome!
@Rmg0731 @BeerIsAwesome Iron Galaxy only assisted Naughty Dog on that rubbish port. They aren't even credited on the Steam page, like they are with the Uncharted PC ports. The blame doesn't fall squarely at the feet of Iron Galaxy. On the flip side, Iron Galaxy also assisted Retro and Nintendo on the utterly stupendous Metroid Prime Remastered. So... Yeeeeeah. For what it's also worth, Iron Galaxy handled seasons two and three of Killer Instinct after Double Helix dipped out. So, this isn't new territory for them.
Cool. One of my favorite fighting games of last gen, looking forward to learning more.
@SplooshDmg I have faith that Iron Galaxy will be fine. Like you said isn’t new territory. They did a great job with KI before.
A port of a game on a new platform is a little different than an update for a game that already works on the platform. They're not really comparable. Lol
@BeerIsAwesome
@Rmg0731
@SplooshDmg
Hope this keeps on going and translates into a sequel. Could see them releasing a Killer Instinct Ultimate with all the content of the original and even more character packs.
The fact that they did some balance passes make me think that is in the cards.
@BeerIsAwesome I wouldn’t count Nixxes ports as absolutely solid they’ve been ok. Spider-man(s) has plenty of game breaking performance, glitches, and issues, and ratchet and clank are missing key effects and some graphical elements look worse than the PS5. But it help that insomniac engine is more platform agnostic than Naughty dog.
If this is already XB1X Enhanced with 4K, and it is playable on SX, what is the purpose of "4K support for Xbox Series X|S" ?
@Thumper Because games that are enhanced for Xbox One X play without those specific enhancements on Series S. Only Xbox One X and Series X play games with Xbox One X enhancements. This update will make 4K possible on Series S. On top of that, last-gen and current-gen consoles will get a balance update and improved matchmaking.
Great to see a decade old game getting an X|S bump. Seems like the game has had an impressive life-span, fingers crossed for a sequel in the near future.
Maybe MS can tap other developers to work on Rare IP that the latter refuses to develop. Just an idea!!!
I’m glad Microsoft is committed to updating games like this.
It helps breathe life into older titles and allows those of us who are yet to play these titles to experience the best versions of them.
I used to play Killer Instinct on the SNES a lot. It was up there as one of my favourite fighters alongside Street Fighter II. So it will be great to see what the newest game offers once these updates go live.
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