The problem with playing on the PC, though, as many console players will tell you, is the process of diagnosing and determining why a specific game isn’t playing. That isn’t to say console games don’t have their fair share of issues, but, a Steam game not running could be due to any number of weird things. And it’s unlikely that two people are utilizing the same hardware, thereby making it harder to figure out what’s wrong.

Ironically, Steam is the culprit behind many player’s bad experience with Mortal Kombat X on the PC today, and the Steam forums are full of unhappy people. It’s understandable, because Steam allows people to pre-load the game before launch and jump right in as soon as it unlocks. However, the way Mortal Kombat X goes about it is doing more harm than good, with many reporting that the game crashes when trying to select any of the game’s menu options.

The reason behind the issues is, as said before, how the game downloads the files needed to run it. The initial download size is 3 GB, which should be enough to let gamers play parts of the game while the rest downloads in the background. But that’s not happening, and it’s leaving a lot of people with incomplete files.

The Mortal Kombat X announcements page explains how the process is supposed to work:

As soon as the game is played for the first time, a batch of DLC content will appear in your download queue. Check the Steam client to see the download progress on DLC items labeled Mortal Kombat X Install Pack 01 through 23.

You’ll be able to play the game while these downloads complete.

NetherRealm has yet to acknowledge the issues (which is probably contributing to some of the angry comments), but they will likely address it soon. It’s also possible that the Day One patch fixed the crashing issues and this post is pointless. As of this writing, however, many are still citing problems.

Everyone that paid for the game but is unable to play it has the right to be upset; it’s really just a matter of time and waiting for things to be smoothed over. Fortunately, when that happens, people can play the hit that Mortal Kombat X early reviews claim it to be, despite an underwhelming story and the microtransactions for easy fatalities.

Sources: Steam Forums, VG247, Kotaku