Expected by many to eventually happen ever since Microsoft announced its seasonal DLC plans for their Xbox One exclusive fighting game, Killer Instinct Season Three has now been officially confirmed during today’s Gamescom and is set for release in March 2016. The official logo for the season has been released and its green spiritual energy hints at a more supernatural turn for the series which would stand in sharp contrast to Season Two’s Sci-Fi characters and story elements.
The third season will bring eight new fighters to the ever-growing roster of characters and promises to include fresh takes on the yet to be revamped characters from the original games (presumably characters like Tusk, Gargos and Kim Wu) in addition to special guest characters which would be a first for Killer Instinct but is something that is quite common in most other fighting games (i.e. Sonic and Snake in Smash Bros and Darth Vader in Soul Caliber, etc).
The first guest character has been revealed and is available for Xbox One owners to play right now, provided they’ve made a previous DLC purchase within Killer Instinct or have unlocked the first BattleToads achievement in the recently released Rare Replay. Coming straight out of Rare’s cult classic BattleToads video games, Rash is playable as a sort of preview until September 8th 2015. While the character does have a full moveset, his overall look is still evolving and details such as his animations will most likely change by the time of his proper release in March 2016.
It’s unclear if the BattleToad’s inclusion as a guest character is due to the Rare connection (the studio also created the original Killer Instinct games) or simply possible due to Microsoft owning the rights to the characters. It’s probably safe to assume that other Rare characters could make the jump though it’s probably unlikely that we’ll see Jago duking it out with Banjo Kazooie despite how much fun that would be to watch. More likely characters would be those portrayed in similar artistic styles such as characters from the Halo series or maybe even Rare’s Perfect Dark.
There has been no confirmation one way or the other if these guest characters will be part of the promised eight character Season Three roster or if they will be bonus characters like Season One’s Shadow Jago or Season Two’s Omen.
Including guest characters in the game could be just what Killer Instinct needs to attract more casual players. As it stands right now, Killer Instinct’s convoluted combo system and focus on competitive play makes it very hard for new players to pick up and as a result very few players bother with online play at all.
Another way in which Microsoft is aiming to build up the game’s audience is by releasing it on Windows 10. This version had been announced previously but it has now been confirmed to launch on Windows 10 in March 2016 alongside the Xbox One Season Three update.
Both the Xbox One and Windows 10 versions of Killer Instinct will be completely identical and all DLC, progress and achievements will sync between each version with online cross-play enabled.
Are you hyped for Killer Instinct on Windows 10? Is there anything else they should do to improve the game? What other characters would you like to see in Season Three? Sign off in the comments below.
