The Nintendo Switch release of Mortal Kombat 1 - widely regarded as the worst way to play the game - has been skipped by an official patch yet again. This is the fifth patch to skip the platform, making it almost three weeks since this controversial port received any fixes.

At this time, PC, Xbox and PlayStation have received three patches each, with the latest update being rolled out across all three platforms at once. This makes the Switch omission all the more jarring, particularly as it's this version of the game that's demonstrably in the worst state and most in need of some attention.

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The patch is live now, with Eurogamer spotting that, right now, there's no word on when it will come to Nintendo Switch. This means players on Switch will miss out on key changes, like character balances.

The patch makes some performance improvements too, addressing a few bugs that players have complained about in recent weeks. Admittedly, Mortal Kombat 1's performance on Switch is so rough that it might need a patch of its own to go over all of its own bugs.

But what makes less sense is the Switch version missing all of the character balances that this patch introduces. Most of the cast have received tweaks to their movesets, and not all of them are based on fixing bugs. This means that Switch users might be playing on a version of the game with a completely different tier list, a huge discrepancy for a fighting game. While it's safe to assume that Switch players will get these changes soon, we still don't know when that will be.

This is a disappointing turn of events, given that Ed Boon has admitted the Switch version needs much more work. It's led to many fans questioning why it launched on the platform in the first place, especially considering the Mortal Kombat 11 Switch port - which was also criticised by fans - came after its release on other platforms. Many multi-platform games take this approach since the Switch often requires special attention.

To make matters worse, it seems like the Switch trailer for the game used gameplay footage shot on PC, not exactly a sign of confidence in the port. This would suggest that the devs knew the Switch release was going to be rough on launch day, but for whatever reason, the publisher didn't delay it. Now, fans argue that it should have been cheaper than other versions of the game, or even cancelled altogether if the Switch couldn't handle it.

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