Mortal Kombat X Has Much Better Netcode Than MK9, Ed Boon Says

Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon acknowledges in a new interview that the netcode for the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot and 2013's Injustice: Gods Among Us could have been better. Boon said developer NetherRealm has learned from these challenges and this month's Mortal Kombat X will bear that out with a smoother, better overall online experience.

He says in an interview with AngryJoe that NetherRealm holds "post-mortem" internal discussions after every new release to talk about what could have been done better. "And certainly, you can never not improve with online," he said.

Asked if he could guarantee that Mortal Kombat X's netcode would be improved over the studio's other recent games, Boon said, "Oh yeah. It's going to be improved over MK9, certainly even improved over Injustice. We really are focusing a lot."

NetherRealm is also looking to improve its general messaging with Mortal Kombat X as it relates to error messages players may, unfortunately, encounter online. While the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot displayed a generic "Connection Lost" screen that never told you why that happened, Mortal Kombat X will feature a more detailed message that lets you know exactly why things went wrong.

What's more, Boon said NetherRealm has implemented new back-end online features that should make Mortal Kombat X do a better job of ensuring that players with good connections are matched together instead of other scenarios. You can watch the full AngryJoe interview here.

The Mortal Kombat X release date is April 14 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions, however, have been delayed.

For lots more on Mortal Kombat X and the Mortal Kombat franchise in general, check out GameSpot's wide-ranging interview with Boon.