Sounds like they have no choice but to run the event on the new patch
Mortal Kombat 1 recently crowned its first world champion at Final Kombat 2024 earlier this month, and it looks like the game is about to be shaken up a good bit.
NetherRealm Studios just announced that a new balance update is about to hit MK1 tomorrow, June 27, which is just one day before the next major begins with CEO 2024.
According to the official post, the new patch is set to land for Mortal Kombat players Thursday morning at 8 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET, and unlike most other prior updates, there doesn’t seem to be any server maintenance downtime included.
There’s no mention as to which characters are going to be impacted, but top tier contenders who saw a lot of play at Final Kombat are most likely on the radar to be hit with nerfs including Johnny Cage, Peacemaker and Sindel.
This unfortunately also comes around 24 hours before the start of CEO down in Florida.
It sounds as though CEO will be pretty much forced to use the new update for the tournament due to the need to connect to the online servers to make sure the consoles being used can access the DLC characters and past content.
CEO tournament organizer Alex Jebailey has posted a few responses to the sudden announcement and understandably voicing some frustration at the last minute adjustments that are going to need to be made for the team as well as the competitors.
“We don’t have a choice because of how consoles these days need to touch down to even connect and update so we can ensure everything is up to date,” wrote Jebailey in response to NRS. “I’m sorry to all the players competing in Mortal Kombat 1 at #CEO2024 this weekend that have to adjust within less than 24 hours.”
We don’t have a choice because of how consoles these days need to touch down to even connect and update so we can ensure everything is up to date.
I’m sorry to all the players competing in Mortal Kombat 1 at #CEO2024 this weekend that have to adjust within less than 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/KsEBS7F3HD
— Alex Jebailey #CEO2024 (@Jebailey) June 26, 2024
Street Fighter 6 also just received a new update earlier today to add M. Bison and some new features to the game, and while the patch will need to be used too at CEO, the DLC dictator himself will remain banned.
Bison’s release date was announced almost three weeks in advance at least, so Jebailey was able to make the call earlier this month to keep Bison out of the SF6 tournament.
This follows something very similar going down with Combo Breaker 2024 in May as well after Akuma and the Season 2 balance update launched the same week as the event, but in this case, entrants were able to vote to make them legal.
This might get me in trouble but at this point just frustrated I do so much to promote the games I love & host them for the community only to get hit with last min surprises.
It’s probably gonna be nerfs to certain characters that rhyme with Rage & HeartBreaker. Just a hunch. https://t.co/CZEpHFtymE
— Alex Jebailey #CEO2024 (@Jebailey) June 26, 2024
Hopefully, this new MK1 patch won’t present any new issues for the game, but either way, organizers and players alike are going to need to make adjustments very quickly.
CEO 2024 is set to take place June 28–30 in Daytona Beach, Florida.