The Xbox One will celebrate its first birthday next month, but in the console’s 11th month it’s already getting a launch-game sequel. Tomorrow, on October 15, Killer Instinct: Season 2 will hit Xbox One as a free download.
Microsoft is hedging its bets that some gamers may be disappointed in what’s included in Killer Instinct: Season 2. In their announcement release, Microsoft said “what you see on Day One is not the full game – it will evolve and grow significantly over time as we continually add new features, content and characters. I encourage you to hold your official ‘review’ of the game until all our content has been released (spring 2015) so you can get the full Season 2 experience.”
Naturally that comment was geared toward media, but it’s fair to say that sentiment should be communicated to Xbox One owners as well. When the game launches tomorrow it will be but the skeleton to a much larger body of work. That skeleton won’t completely fill out until early next year.
As with the original Killer Instinct on Xbox One last year, this sequel will be a free download. A new free character will be available to play (in rotation) each week, with characters available for purchase if you want to make them permanent rather than rotational.
Xbox Live Gold members will be able to engage in online combat against any of the Season 1 characters or the new Season 2 characters.
In addition to new characters such as TJ Combo and Maya, Killer Instinct: Season 2 has an all-new interface compared to last year’s Xbox One launch game.
Here’s a video of Killer Instinct: Season 2 if you’d like to see the game in action before deciding whether to download it.