The Mortal Kombat 1 online stress test was just that: a test meant to stress the servers. The Mortal Kombat 1 beta, on the other hand, is going to be a little more substantial, as NetherRealm Studios has just announced. The team not only revealed when the beta is going to start, but also what characters, stages, and Kameos it will have, as well.
The Mortal Kombat 1 beta start date is soon
As noted by a tweet from the game’s Twitter account, the beta will run from August 18 to August 21 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, Kenshi, and Kitana will be returning from the online stress test, but they will be joined by Johnny Cage and Li Mei, the latter of whom was only recently revealed. Kano, Jax, and Sonya are also the Kameos returning from the stress test, but Frost is now going to be a part of that roster, too. The Teahouse and Johnny Cage’s Mansion stages are also the same two stages from the stress test.
While most online stress recipients were randomly selected after signing up, players can only get access to this beta by pre-ordering the game. Pre-ordering also locks Shang Tsung as a playable fighter, something NetherRealm started with Mortal Kombat X and has continued ever since.
This beta won’t be the only way to play Mortal Kombat 1 early. There will be demos for the bloody brawler at Evo, which is slated to run from August 3 to August 6 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Series co-creator Ed Boon also stated there will be more Mortal Kombat 1 news at the event.
