Mortal Kombat 11 has a unique punishment in place for players who rage-quit their online matches, and the newest version of the "Quitality" is the series' most gruesome one yet. The Quitality isn't new to the Mortal Kombat franchise, as it was introduced in Mortal Kombat X, when an online ranked play match that ended with someone quitting prematurely would see their character's head explode in a rain of blood and gore.
Mortal Kombat 11 has been making the most of its reputation for over-the-top violence and gory fatalities, embracing both in the latest iteration of a franchise that has seen a return to form over its past few releases. Mortal Kombat 11 reviews have been glowing outside of the constant criticism of its microtransaction model, which punishes players for wanting to grind through its requirements to unlock cosmetics. Developer NetherRealm Studios has already said it would address those issues, however, and a reduction in the amount of time those unlocks take would likely catapult Mortal Kombat 11's standing even higher than it has already achieved.
Mortal Kombat 11 also carries on the franchise's legacy of fun, tongue-in-cheek references to what the developers like and dislike. In the case of Quitalities, it's the developer's active dislike for online players who rage-quit matches before they've finished, an experience that both reduces the fun of winning and actively robs the person leaving the match of the ability to learn from their mistakes and grow as a player. To that end, NetherRealm Studios implemented a new Quitality that is even more embarrassing than the last. Now, when a player leaves prematurely, their character's entire body will explode, an amusing demonstration of their futility that should anger rage-quitters to the point that they might actually stick around in their next match. Here's a look at it in action:
Rage-quitting online games is nothing new, but it's rare that developers find such an amusing way to dissuade people from doing it. Mortal Kombat 11 is heavy on humor this time around, from the game's confusing but amusing storyline to its various pop culture references serving to lighten the mood in an experience that is ostensibly about brutally murdering people in the time-traveling, world-altering fight to the death equivalent of a cage fight.
The new Quitality, alongside the other innovations that Mortal Kombat 11 brings to the table, are just further reinforcement that for NetherRealm Studios, the franchise is still very much a labor of love. It would be easy to churn out the same content everyone expects with each iteration, but its clear that NetherRealm Studios has actively tried to improve Mortal Kombat in various different ways. The game even features the fighting game genre's best tutorial in recent memory, making Mortal Kombat 11 both the most nostalgia-inducing and welcoming to newcomers version of the game in quite some time. That's a big win for the developer, and another reason rage-quitters should give Mortal Kombat 11 a little more of their time before they leave matches too early.