Mortal Kombat 1: how character unlocks work

The base roster

Mortal Kombat 1 released on September 19, 2023, and it is a different proposition from the older games in the series. The base roster is available from the start rather than being unlocked by finishing arcade ladders, which is the opposite of how the 1990s titles worked.

If you are coming from the collection and expecting to grind out secret fights to fill the roster, that is not how this game works. Its unlocks are tied to content you buy and to the game’s own modes rather than to hidden conditions.

DLC fighters

The characters added after launch arrived as downloadable content, and that is the main thing to understand about the roster.

• Mortal Kombat 1 carries 28 downloadable items, grouped into Kombat Pack and Kombat Pack 2 alongside individual additions.
• The packs include guest characters from outside the series, which is a long-running tradition for the modern games.
• Because the content is sold rather than earned, a player who buys only the base game will see the added fighters in the menus without being able to use them.

The series entry page puts this in context against the older games, where the equivalent content was hidden inside the game rather than sold.

The Definitive Edition

The Definitive Edition was released on May 15, 2025, and it consolidates the game’s paid content into one purchase.

On May 24, 2025, NetherRealm confirmed that no further character or story downloadable content is planned. That confirmation is what makes the Definitive Edition a complete purchase rather than one that will be superseded: there is nothing further announced to wait for.

Kameo fighters

Mortal Kombat 1 introduced a second layer to the roster that the older games do not have, and it accounts for a large share of the game’s achievement list.

• Kameo fighters are chosen alongside your main character and are used for assists during a match.
• They are separate from the main roster, so building a complete set means dealing with two lists rather than one.
• Several achievements are tied to using them: Making Friends Is Easy is awarded for using ten different Kameos, Buddy System for mastering one, and Rollin’ With My Krew for mastering five — the last of which sits at 2.4%, the rarest achievement in the game.

Support status

Mortal Kombat 1 is a finished product as of October 2026. The Definitive Edition is the version to buy if you want everything in one transaction, and there is no expected further content to wait for.

If you are deciding between this and the older games, the two offer quite different things: Mortal Kombat 1 is the modern competitive game with the larger budget, while Legacy Kollection is eleven games of series history. The status page covers the collection’s own patch history if the recent one is the one you are weighing up.