New Mortal Kombat game comes with a massive Switch price tag

Over 20 years since the release of the first-ever Mortal Kombat game, Ed Boon and co have officially announced another reboot of the franchise, with the supposed 12th instalment in the main series taking us back through time to 1992, but with nothing but the best graphics and performance of the modern age.

Mortal Kombat 1, as it will be known, has been officially unveiled by NetherRealm Studios and Warner Bros., which will revisit iconic characters throughout the ages.

But Mortal Kombat 1's Switch port comes with the dubious honour of a Hyrulian price tag.

Mortal Kombat 1 announces $70 fee for new-generation consoles

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NetherRealm Studios announced that only new-generation consoles will be able to have access to Mortal Kombat 1, with Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch chosen as the compatible platforms.

This rules out any last-gen consoles like the Xbox One and PS4, which has now set the bar high for Mortal Kombat to demand a huge $70 fee across all platforms, which is a step up from that of the 2019 release of Mortal Kombat 11.

Despite the Switch having less power than the likes of the PS4, understandably given its handheld limitations, the fighting series will continue its journey with Nintendo, in collaboration with Shiver Entertainment and Saber Interactive, who ported Mortal Kombat 11 and The Witcher 3, respectively, to the Switch.

However, Mortal Kombat 1's Switch port now puts it in esteemed company, joining Tears of the Kingdom as the only game to arrive at a price point above $60 on the console.

Mortal Kombat 1 to become the second-ever $70 Switch Game

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The $70 price barrier has just been smashed on Switch, with Nintendo's own The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom becoming the first Switch title to rise above $60, but that hasn't stopped it from becoming one of the best-selling games ever.

Now, Mortal Kombat 1 is set to be the second to break this barrier, beating the likes of Pikmin 4, which has been marooned to the $60 buffer.

Mortal Kombat 1 might be a bit of a harder sell than Zelda at this fee though, given that Tears of the Kingdom was one of the most highly-anticipated games of the decade. Combined with the franchise's history with bug-ridden releases in the past such as Mortal Combat 11, NetherRealm Studios and its band of Switch porters now face quite the task to live up to this fee.