Video games have been competitive for as long as people could land their three-character initials on a digital scoreboard. The fighting game genre got its start in the 1970s, but it was when Street Fighter 2 hit the arcades in the '90s that the genre would ascend to a whole new level. Since then, many groundbreaking series have graced the genre, such as Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Super Smash Bros. and much more. 

While fighting games may never have the same mass-market appeal they did in the '90s, 2023 is proving to be a mini-rennaisance for the genre. We've already had Street Fighter 6, Mortal Kombat 1 is arriving this fall, and there's Tekken 8 still to come. That's without mentioning the upcoming reboot of Dead or Alive or Riot Games' League of Legends spin-off Project L. It's a good time to be a fighting game fan — watch the video below for the full story.

One of the biggest reveals from a generally muted SGF showcase was gameplay footage from Mortal Kombat 1. Technically the 12th mainline game restarts the entire universe. Liu Kang, once mortal, is now a fully-fledged god of fire, and he’s rerolled the realm.

This means fan favorites like Sub Zero and Scorpion are back, but now, they’re siblings. The development team has decided to shake up the plot and reinvent characters for this 2023 reboot. Alongside this new world and character dynamics, MK1 also introduces a new feature to fights in the form of Kameos. After choosing a character, you’re able to select a guest fighter to back you up during the fight. Summonable by a single button (R1 on PlayStation), you can combine it with back and forward inputs to trigger multiple different moves. There are also Kameo throws and fatalities, all-in-all adding more versatility and flexibility in fights. Want to make sure you can block a character’s jump attacks? Get Jax on deck so he can suplex them to the floor. Need to match a projectile-flinging character? Summon Sonya.

We got to play with four different characters (and a trio of ‘Kameo’ assistants), trying out several different combinations and trying to see all the Kameo fatalities we could. Engadget’s Brandon Quintana is a long-standing MK fan. He lays out why the game delivers on what he wanted – while thrashing me in the process. Mortal Kombat 1 will launch this September 19th, 2023 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!