Maximum octane fighting game reboot Killer Instinct has been announced as making the jump from Xbox One exclusivity to PC-as-well for a while but we’ve been low on details. No longer. It’s to be a Windows 10 exclusive as far as operating system goes, distributed through the Microsoft store. It will also be releasing some time in March, bringing all three seasons worth of characters to our home platform.
What else should we be excited for coming next year? Here’s the PC’s upcoming games.
The game itself is free to play, but only allows access to one character, rotated monthly. Individual characters can be purchased, or bought in year-long packs called Seasons. Season 1 was the initial release from 2013 through 2014, Season 2 ended last year, while Season 3 will be releasing simultaneously with the PC version. The headline character is Rash, of the Battletoads series, who you may remember from this trailer.
He’ll pop up at the start, along with Tusk and Kim Wu, a pair of classic KI characters. Further characters are yet to be revealed and will be released throughout the year in normal F2P style. The game is also getting significant reworks as part of the Season 3 update, adding systems, reworking characters and making tweaks. It’s also been confirmed in a recent interview (04:08 into that archive) that a new training mode is in the works,
Meanwhile, Season 1 will be free on Xbox One for anyone who wants to download it throughout January via Games With Gold, the complimentary games service. This is important to you because, if you happen to have the latest iteration of Microsoft’s console, the crossbuy feature means that the free Season 1 will transfer to PC upon release. No reason not to download it.
I’m quite looking forward to the release of KI. I’ve long accepted that while I’ll play Street Fighter V – and will almost certainly make a serious attempt to get good once Urien is released – I won’t be capable enough for it to keep my attention long term. Different games, especially ones as ludicrously over the top as Killer Instinct, will be welcome, and there’s already a wide selection of characters to choose from. Plus I’m hoping some more developers will realise how viable a MOBA-style F2P fighter is on PC once this, and SF, are out. Overwatch’s Fighters Of The Storm cabinets only real, anyone?