Mortal Kombat 1 Players Are Dodging Paywalls By Changing Their Console’s Date

Turning the date on your console back or forwards in time has long been a way to exploit games with time-based content, though it’s become less popular as more games become online-only. Fans have discovered that the age-old trick still works for Mortal Kombat 1, however, after the game made some unpopular decisions around its monetization.

As reported by IGN, Mortal Kombat 1 saw backlash from fans after adding skins to its premium in-game shop that were previously able to be earned through Season 1’s Invasions mode. This was after developer NetherRealm had said players could wait for a season re-run if they missed the skins.

Players soon discovered that these skins could still be earned through gameplay by cheesing the game the old-fashioned way–by changing the date on your console. Twitter user iScream shared the exploit as a PSA, telling players they could earn the skins instead of buying them by changing the date on their PS5 console to any time before November 6. Once earned, the skins would remain once the player corrected the console date and time. Reddit user AdmirableEstimate258 confirmed that the date change also works on the Nintendo Switch version of the game.

NetherRealm Studios will likely patch this exploit when they can–and some are approaching it with caution, warning that using such an exploit to dodge paywalls could result in players being banned from Mortal Kombat 1’s online servers, or even from a console’s online service.

Mortal Kombat fans haven’t been happy with MK1’s aggressive monetization, especially when it’s sold as a full price $70 game, and the decision to add the Invasions seasonal skins to the premium currency store isn’t likely to help with public opinion. It’s unlikely that MK1 is going to drastically change its monetization strategy, however, with publisher Warner Bros. Games all in on live service games.