First off, KI is far from “dead.” There are a few reasons why there’s another bout of radio silence in the KI Universe, and if you’re paying attention, there’s obviously something stirring behind the curtain…
Let’s take a look at what’s happening right now, and what’s around the corner:
The 4th issue of the Killer Instinct comic is hitting store shelves next week. The story is brilliant, the art is well-done, and you can tell whoever wrote it genuinely cares about our universe of madmen and monsters. Perhaps the largest plot points clearly stem from one of Mira’s dossiers, but I’ll leave that up to you to unlock and learn about… 
It may SEEM like a small deal, but there are a few more Crimson Guardians to be released in Shadow Lords, as noted by their respective dossiers. Win or lose in Shadow Lords, Gargos is there to remind you to check back for updates, and I’d love some new story threads to explore alongside the pending Cimson Lion Guardian, Owl, etc.
I can’t be the only one who finds the placement of the Colors/Terror Skins sub-menus in the Store to be superfluous for a single pack each? If the @Developers wanted to, they could’ve tossed all of the skins and skin packs into a single sub category like they did with the unlockable music, icons, backgrounds, etc. I believe that the Omen Color Pack and the Terror Pack are only a taste of what’s to (eventually) come.
SIDE NOTE TIME! I finally unlocked all 29 Shadow Skins this week! Yay, me! Purple is my favorite color, and I really like the lore of ARIA pouring vats of purple umbra goo into molds to make “Shadow” versions of the other fighters to combat Gargos. Gotta unlock ‘em all!
Trading cards! I don’t have any information about when they’re releasing, or who’s designing them, but I can confirm that we are getting official KI trading cards! #StayTuned
And finally, ENT Aganos, AKA the Tree-Man - OR - Blame the Ultimates!
Look, it’s clear that the KI content that we got in 2017 was planned well ahead of time, and it seems like we were going to originally get four fighters to raise the number to a nice round 30 that would be released each season over the year. We got Kilgore, Shin Hisako, and Eagle, but because people overwhelmingly screamed “GEV M3 MI U1TEMETUZ!” the team spent time and energy that could’ve been used on a 4th fighter to make the set of Ultimates that we have now. (I’m NOT bagging on the Ultimates, as they’re great, but I’d have loved a new monster SO MUCH MORE)
It was revealed that they were considering the 4th fighter as a character that would’ve been based on Aganos, and it has already been hinted at that the KI Crew has thought about making an ENT (Tree Man) based on Aganos via that legendary Character Survey.
I personally believe that the ENT would’ve been released in late summer/fall before Eagle, because the revelation of Eagle is a big deal for longtime KI fans. It’s a major shame if ENT was given the bench, as I LOVE the monsters of KI more than anything else in the series, and a tree-beast would’ve been by far my favorite fighter of the year. (Kilgore is really cool, but TREE-MAN!)
IF we got the ENT instead of the Ultimates, it’s likely that we’d still be riding on the hype train of the ENT or Eagle, who would’ve probably released earlier this winter, and there wouldn’t BE any perceived radio silence in the world of KI at the moment because we’d still be figuring out our latest fighter.
Look, I want Season 4 more than anything, and at the very least, if the ENT was planned to be fighter #30, can we pretty-please round out KI with our unreleased killer tree beast?
KI’s not done, not by a long shot, but I blame the Ultimates for the lull in the hype- I just wish that we would’ve gotten the ENT (or whatever the Aganos-based fighter #30 would’ve been!) first. I’m right there with the rest of you and hoping for more info about the future of KI soon, but until then, I’m going to grab my new comic next week, poke the Tuesday thread, and fight on.
-Zenek
PS. Insert obligatory “Sharkman please” note here. 
