Fulgore and company get divekicked in season two

Microsoft, Rare and Double Helix have done what no one could have expected – in 2013 they remade the classic Killer Instinct into a beautiful, functional arcade fighter on a modern console. Back in February of this year Double Helix, also responsible for the fantastic Strider remake that you can win right here from GamingTrend, was bought up by Amazon. This put a wrinkle in the MS Killer Instinct roadmap, as the intent was always to provide seasonal content in the form of  characters, outfits,  arenas, game modes and other such improvements over time.

So what’s the news? Microsoft just announced that their new partner in continuing the evolution of Killer Instinct will be Iron Galaxy Studios – according to an article at Polygon they were an original contender for the development KI, and certainly have the credentials to work on it. Most recently Iron Galaxy developed Divekick, and have had a hand in recent iterations of Street Fighter, Marvel Vs. Capcom and even Darksiders.

While we likely won’t see much in the way of announcements for the second season, we can expect an update on April 9 as Double-Helix’s final addition to Killer Instinct goes live. The new eight player Arcade Mode allows spectators, and of course Fulgore will be available for purchase (or download if you already have the season one pack).

Killer Instinct is a “free” game for Xbox One owners with Xbox Live Gold that comes with a single fighter. Additional combatants are available to purchase a-la-carte or in the season one pass. While the seasonal content is a welcome addition, it might be that what Killer Instinct really needs is an affordable, bare-bones fight-stick on store shelves as the only one rings up at $200 per stick.