Interview: How Mortal Kombat Trilogy returns with heart in Legacy Kollection at Evo 2025

Evo Las Vegas 2025 has no shortage of epic booths, and one that brings nostalgia to the new era is Atari and Digital Eclipse's showcase of the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection. This booth also provides hands-on previews of Mortal Kombat Trilogy from this collection. At the booth, esports.gg interviewed Digital Eclipse producer Steven Johnson about what makes Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection special and more.

In his interview with esports.gg, Johnson compared the past and present of the Mortal Kombat experience within the fighting game community (FGC). He used to compete in a tiny college hall filled with arcade machines where the passion was strong. Today, that passion has only grown with expansive setups that far surpass those early spaces in both size and energy. To him, it's very exciting to see the FGC grow from a niche arcade crowd to what it is now.

"The Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is something that's really special to me. Growing up on these games, it's been really interesting watching their development," Johnson said, adding that while the franchise has come a long way, it’s unfortunate that in this era, it’s typically difficult to find, purchase, and play the original titles.

"I look around right now, and there's a lot of people here that worked with these original games," he continued. "These games are still very playable, they're still very fun, and they have a lot of history behind them that ultimately led to what Mortal Kombat is today. They are still telling the story from Mortal Kombat 1 [from 1992] through 4 over and over and over again, as people just don't have the context of that. So to be able to deliver a product that brings people closer to even the modern games is really cool."

Johnson then shared that Mortal Kombat Trilogy from the collection holds a special place in his heart, much like it did for him growing up. Back then, he didn’t own a full console and only had limited gaming options. The PlayStation was his first real console where he could fully get into games, and he spent entire summers playing that one title over and over again.

"I have really fond memories, and being able to bring this game out was honestly the thing I cared most about with our product. All the other games are great, but Trilogy is the game that has all the characters, almost all the stages, and almost all the soundtracks," he said.

In terms of the reception so far at Evo Las Vegas 2025, Johnson revealed that players have been surprised at how well the game performs. He went into how their technology improves old systems and reduces load times. It's thanks to these upgrades that players can simply jump into games within 10 seconds instead of waiting for a minute or longer.

As for parting words, Johnson told esports.gg that he’s excited to see how the collection is received when it comes out. He also encouraged the Mortal Kombat community to keep asking for the games they wish to play again.

"I know there’s no way we can deliver the full encompassing [experience with] everything that everybody wants in terms of games, but the Mortal Kombat community is so passionate," he said. "And really, if there are games that you want to see and things that you're really passionate about, always keep asking for them. We’re really trying to make this something where we can continue supporting Mortal Kombat and keep giving people the games they like."

In addition to Mortal Kombat Trilogy, the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection includes all of the essential games of the franchise's early years from the arcade classics to the beloved home titles. Folks can preorder the collection via its official website and later play through it on the PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, plus the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. The release date of it is Sept. 30.

That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more interviews, news, and updates!