MK dev wanted Xbox exclusive character
But, "We did not have control over it."
The PlayStation 3 version of fighting game Mortal Kombat – out this week – includes God of War star Kratos as an exclusive playable character. Xbox 360 owners, however, do not get an exclusive character. Why?
The answer is shrouded in mystery.
"Unfortunately, the circumstances didn't allow us to make a 360 exclusive," was all Mortal Kombat boss Ed Boon could say when quizzed by Eurogamer.
"I'm not allowed to talk too much about it, but I can tell you we certainly wanted to do an exclusive for 360, but that's all I can say. It was not a decision we made where we said, oh, let's not do one for the 360."
Xbox 360 owners were given hope that they would see an exclusive playable character in the gory brawler when Twitter accounts associated with Gears of War maker Epic Games offered to chat to Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm.
"It's funny," Boon continued. "A number of us on the development team have accounts on Twitter. We try to use that as a means to communicate and connect with the players. Our team in particular pays big attention to fans of the game and what they want to see in Mortal Kombat game. So we pay very close attention."
While Boon refused to specify the characters he wanted to include exclusively for the Xbox 360 version, he hinted that NetherRealm discussed the likes of Master Chief and Marcus Fenix.
"Anybody who's really knowledgeable about the Xbox video games, the big titles, names like Master Chief from Halo, Marcus Fenix from Gears of War, and any other Xbox exclusive title, is going to come up in a conversation in talking about it. So clearly we've discussed it.
"But, like I said, it wasn't something we decided, no, we don't want to make a 360 version of a character."
Eurogamer's Mortal Kombat review goes live this week.