First Mortal Kombat 1 Playtest Announced, Signups Open

Mortal Kombat 1 is due out in September following its reveal from last week, but players won’t have to wait until then to play the new Mortal Kombat game. NetherRealm Studios announced this week plans to hold an online stress test so that the developers can see how well its servers will hold up ahead of the game’s beta and the full launch planned for September 19th. Signups for this initial stress test have already been opened for players to get in on it, though we don’t know just yet when the server stress test will be taking place.

This stress test which will give players their first chance to play Mortal Kombat 1 was announced on socials this week with the official Mortal Kombat account sharing a signup page for the playtest. If you want to sign up, you can head here to do so, but know that you’ll have to have a Warner Bros. Games account if you want to be part of the fun.

To be clear, this is not the same thing as the beta that was announced last week shortly after the game itself was revealed. That beta is still happening but will held in August and can (for now) only be accessed if you preorder the game. This stress test is separate from the beta, and the FAQ about the playtest made that clear for any who might think they have to preorder to get into this first test.

“No, the test is not a Beta, it is a true stress test,” the FAQ about this playtest said. “The purpose is to deliberately stress our online infrastructure and identify potential issues ahead of the game’s launch. The test is also unrelated to the Mortal Kombat 1 Pre-Order Beta that has been announced for August 2023.

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So, when’s this Mortal Kombat 1 playtest taking place? That’s a good question, and it’s one that NetherRealm doesn’t have the answer to just yet. The studio said it would “confirm specific timing at a later date,” so all you have to do right now is sign up for the playtest to be considered.

The good news is that we do know a bit about the plans for what the test will offer. It’ll prioritize 1v1 fights online which is probably what Mortal Kombat fans were hoping for anyway, though the test will also offer “a limited single-player Klassic Towers mode against A.I. opponents.” It’ll be available on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S platforms only and won’t be on the PC nor will it be on the Nintendo Switch.