Mortal Kombat 1 features microtransactions for skins, equipment, and "more."

A listing on the Xbox Store has revealed that the in-game currency "Dragon Crystals" from Mortal Kombat 1 can be utilized to acquire skins, equipment, color palettes, and much more.

When Mortal Kombat 1 was first unveiled, the official website announced that the Deluxe Edition of the game would include "Dragon Crystals" - an in-game currency that sounded similar to the "Time Crystals" from Mortal Kombat 11. Although the currency was confirmed and hinted at a potential progression and reward system that could involve monetary investments, nothing was officially confirmed by Warner Bros. at that time.

Well, as noted by Twitter user thetiny, we now officially know what these Dragon Crystals are used for. The early access version of Mortal Kombat 1 appears to be available on the Xbox Store, which means that all associated DLCs are also accessible, including Shang Tsung, the Jean-Claude Van Damme skin for Johnny Cage, and a bonus amount of in-game currency.

This release of the items has provided us with a description of the Dragon Crystals. It states: "This package includes 1250 Dragon Crystals (in-game currency) to acquire cosmetic features for your fighters, such as skins, color palettes, equipment, and more." It's not entirely clear what the "and more" part means, as we don't know too much about the customization options of Mortal Kombat 1, but one can assume that it might refer to taunts, brutalities, and character introductions.

At the time of writing, we don't yet know the price at which these Dragon Crystals will be sold, as only the listing in the Xbox Store for the Premium Edition of Mortal Kombat 1 is currently available. As a point of reference, the Time Crystals in Mortal Kombat 11 cost £3.99 for 500 pieces, which could potentially be the case here as well.

NetherRealm has been rather reserved when it comes to discussing the available customization and equipment systems in Mortal Kombat 1. Only recently has the feature been confirmed, along with the Invasion mode, which offers players skins and color palettes as rewards. This does indeed suggest that the depth of customization will be greater than previously assumed. However, it is somewhat concerning to consider that this is something that could potentially be bypassed with an in-game currency.

Upon its release, one of the major criticisms of Mortal Kombat 11 was that the progression systems were too laborious and some rewards were difficult to unlock. Let's hope that Mortal Kombat 1 manages to circumvent this issue and that the Dragon Crystals are not necessary for the majority of players.