With the reveal of Eagle, i think this is the end of KI (2013)

I would say to do what Bars do. Take something as collateral, like an ID.

It would work. But remember you want to make it as easy as possible for people.

I appreciate @Infilamentā€™s insight on the tournament scene, and nothing about the Xbox One has aggravated me more than the fightstick issue - compounded by even more controller stupidity with the PC port controller compatibility. I know most of the money from consoles comes from selling controllers, but since you canā€™t even buy an Xbox One fightstick at this point it seems obvious that controller policy has hurt KIā€™s exposure to players in the FGC.

Having said that, Smash is a thing and so is (or was) Pokken. Both require special hardware and controllers. Smash especially tends to be a ā€œseparateā€ scene from the rest of the FGC, but it is a scene nonetheless. With KIā€™s online functionality and high profile online tournaments, and with KI focused events like KIWC, I wouldnā€™t blame MS for not really thinking that the locals and weeklies where people show up for fun are not a necessity to build up KIā€™s competetive community.

Eagle is the 29th character. Strange number to stop at right? Iā€™m pretty sure rukizzel said that the next character (eagle) isnā€™t the last character, and besides we still have the tsar left to go(Miraā€™s master).

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Iā€™d be very surprised if @rukizzel had directly confirmed or denied that Eagle will be the last character released for the game. Thatā€™s just not how they do it. The may have a proposal for more waiting for final approval or they may have half a Seasonā€™s worth of new content already developed that they arenā€™t ready to announce - or they may have decided to flat out end the game. But they will have a communications plan that they stick with regarding announcements etc. Incidentally, I wouldnā€™t expect to see a ā€œKI is now doneā€ announcement, ever. Nothing good could come out of that from the developers point of view.

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He didnā€™t say either way, but part of his job is to manage expectations and he hasnā€™t yet said ā€œthatā€™s all folksā€

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As stated above - we like to dance around subjects that are definite in nature. You know, only a Sith speaks in absolutes. :wink:

When it comes to KI, though, anything is possible. These extra few characters werenā€™t a plan at the beginning of Season 3. Ultimates for 15 characters were not a plan when Shadow Jago got his - even though we strictly said so. Things can change, and we understand that, and we hope you do, too.

So that brings us to now. What does the reveal of Eagle mean for KI? All it means is that Eagle will be in KI. What about more characters? That remains to be seen, but as for now we are extremely happy with the 29 characters in Killer Instinct, and what they have to offer. Both Iron Galaxy and Doule Helix have done an incredible job creating a game that encompasses the creativity of past iterations of KI, while keeping it fresh enough to bring in new fans to the IP.

Now letā€™s talk to the inevitable question of Season 4. You know my answer - stay tuned. However, I will advise you that there will not be a Season 4 announcement at E3. Will KI be at E3 at all? Well, I will be there. Take that as you will.

Doomsday theorists - this is not your time to shine, as Killer Instinct still has plenty of life left in it. Not going to E3 or not announcing a Season 4 is not the end of the word, no matter what forum-goers say. We still have plans to expand Killer Instinct to bring in as many fans to the series as possible. More on what that means this summer.

Early in 2016 we mentioned having 6,000,000 players. E3 last year we had just a hair under 7,000,000. As it stands now, that number is encroaching upon the 10,000,000 mark. Incredible. Not to get into the business details of these things, but letā€™s just say there is very much a sustainable player base month after month. What I am saying is no matter what happens with Killer Instinct in the next week, month, year, etc., there are still a ton of fans who thoroughly enjoy playing each day. There may only be a few thousand in this forums, and notable players may retire, take some time off, or just forget about the game, but more can and will take their place.

Apologies for the long-winded answer. Had to think very long as to how to approach this subject - despite what many forum members think :stuck_out_tongue:. I know this message is purposefully ambiguous. Apologies, but thatā€™s the nature of the beast.

As you were.

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Whats the modern standard?

It doesnt matter.

Just seems werid to stop at 29, I mean we are getting more content soon ( omen color pack,ultimate monster pack etc ) but with season 3 felt with a lack of new characters and the only one is Mira. And post season 3 kinda filled that gap of new characters. Iā€™m just hoping there be season 4 maybe at like gamescom or something like that.

Almost 10 million guys! This is amazing.

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Itā€™s when you take a look at the graphically advanced games that has come out in recent time and compare them to one another.

Take KI for example. Itā€™s a 4 year old game now, so comparing it to games like MKX, Injustice 2 and Tekken 7, it doesnā€™t quite reach the modern standard. But when it came out, it was beautiful, though with its flaws, like Sadiraā€™s and Orchidā€™s hair, but overall it looked good. And it still looks good. But it fades slightly when comparing it to the modern fighting games.

That was the same case with WoW when it got its graphical update. Even with it, compared to other games at the time, it didnā€™t reach up to the standard.

All that said thoughā€¦ The graphics doesnā€™t matter as long you still enjoy the game! It doesnā€™t HAVE to be the highest quality in graphics. Sadly though, itā€™s what A LOT of gamers look at first, because itā€™s the first thing we seeā€¦ the appearance of the game. Just see what happened with the new King Of Fighters. People thought it looked incredibly outdated. It got a good polish before launch though, and then got a patch where they had made the graphics even betterā€¦ kinda like KI got.

Sadly, it does matter. A lot. Especially in this context. The more popular a game is, the more money it brings in, the more content the devs are able to give us. A gameā€™s lifespan depends on its community and the funds they get. And a gameā€™s relevance depends on how much promotion it gets and how well it thrives in the FGC.

I assume you meant EVO instead the second E3? Or is just another hypothetical example?

Either way, good post, at least give us something clear: We are not done yet, anything can happen.

Instead a S4, I somehow can see a future with smaller non seasonal expansion packs, like the one that Shin, Kilgore and Eagle represents.

We understand(Me, at least) that you have to be ambiguous in some stuff, because you canā€™t say ā€œThis is going to happenā€ until IS going to happen. Maybe we could use a more constant flow of confirmed info: Making of documentals, articles like the colaboration with the Nez PercĆ©, once a character is announced a more constant flow of small reveals to keep our attention(hopefully we will have more Eagle teasers, like his colors or retro, before he is shown in his trailer), textual streams and stuff like that. We understand that you couldnā€™t speak about Eagle 2 weeks ago, but now that he is confirmed, show us the goodies!

Thank you

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Thanks for the explanation, @rukizzel! Thanks also for managing expectations on a season 4 reveal at E3. Iā€™m a little bummed, but it wouldā€™ve been much worse had I gone in hoping, only to be let down. So really, I appreciate the clarification here.

As for E3, Iā€™m guessing thatā€™s where we see the Eagle trailer. Hoping we get a Season 4 announcement this summer, but now Iā€™m kinda wondering how much Iron Galaxy will be able to contribute now that theyā€™ve announced their new Extinction game.

I donā€™t mean to stoke fears or anything, it just feels like weā€™ve been waiting for definitive news on this gameā€™s future for several months now, and then IGā€™s announcement today happens. Iā€™m sure they have multiple teams working on multiple games, so thatā€™s probably not even an issue. But Iā€™ll feel a lot better once we find out more. :slight_smile:

How are we gonna get eagles retro that he isnā€™t part of season 3? ( probably KI gold idk)

Thanks for this!

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Thanks for the update. Itā€™s very much appreciated. Honestly though, more posts like this every so often would go a long way to quelling all the doom and gloomā€¦not like a weekly update, but something like every other month or so, just so we have something to point to when people start claiming the sky is falling. :wink:

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Bruh yā€™all get clarifying posts way more than that, but they all have to fall into a plan.

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I understand that, and I respect the fact that you guys canā€™t give us all the info at once, so clarifying posts are certainly appreciated. Still, itā€™d be nice if there was some sort of weekly ā€œgo-toā€ piece that could give us some sort of info on whatā€™s being worked on, whatā€™s down the pipeline, etc. Whatever you can talk about or even elude to. This is part of why the weekly textual streams were so great and part of why I miss them.

Donā€™t get me wrong, sometimes, there likely isnā€™t a lot that you can tell us. I get that. Especially when weā€™re in this sort of strange ā€œbetween seasonsā€ or ā€œpost seasonalā€ phase. Maybe a survey question here, a piece of art or a small Q&A there, to supplement any news might help?

I know you just showed an off-screen picture of Eagle yesterday, and I love that type of stuff. But surprises are great, yet unexpected (obviously). Thereā€™s something to be said for the calm that comes from certainty; of expecting something on a regular and predictable basis.

You guys still seem to be releasing new content each Tuesday, so thatā€™s something that could be talked about, rather than having to bring up the old ā€œwhatā€™s coming out this weekā€ thread or searching twitter, which kinda leads to some uncertainty.

I donā€™t mean to sound like a jerk or like Iā€™m ungrateful or anything like that. I also know that youā€™re a busy guy with other games and other stuff going on, no doubt. But if these gloom and doom threads keep popping up, maybe it stands to reason that a little more information, or some sort of regular, expected, weekly (or every other week) communication between MS/IG and the fans that we could proverbially set our watch by might be helpful at a time like this?

Iā€™m sure I sound spoiled and if I do, I sincerely apologize. I know you talk to us and again, thatā€™s greatly appreciated. Itā€™d just be nice if there was some sort of official info dump that happened each week that we could look forward to so that we werenā€™t left to our own devices, wondering whatā€™s happening next, which always tends to lead to wondering if there will be anything next. Thatā€™s not your fault, of course. Just anything to help combat that human nature would be awesome. :slight_smile:

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