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Killer Instinct

Killer Instinct

The legendary fighting franchise is back with over-the-top action, a wild cast of combatants, rocking reactive music, and C-C-C-COMBO BREAKERS!!! Choose your ultimate combatants each with fluid animations, unique combat tactics, and enthralling special attacks.

Released Sep 27, 2017 Developer Iron Galaxy Studios Publisher Xbox Game Studios Platforms Windows FightingActionMultiplayer2D FighterGreat Soundtrack
View on Steam ↗ Free (US · as of 2026-07-26)

What players say

Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Data as of 2026-05-20.

87.1%positive5,237 reviews
Recommended · 10 found this helpful

“I played the first KI on SNES. I flayed the skin on my thumbs to get the combos right. I literally bled for the game. Was it worth it? Hell yes! This is just as awesome!”

— a player, Steam review · 19 hrs played
Recommended · 7 found this helpful

“Killer Instinct is old, and practically dead but is still fun to those who play alone. The game is "free to play" but you only get access to one character and I don't think it even rotates the free fighter anymore. Although, the game goes on sale now and again and you can get…”

— a player, Steam review · 65 hrs played
Recommended · 4 found this helpful

“The gold standard for fighting games in my opinion. Outside of any niche subcategories, KI has everything I'd expect from a titan in the genre, without bending the knee to any casual or professional demographics. The art style also holds up surprisingly well, and the dynamic…”

— a player, Steam review · 9 hrs played
Read more reviews ↗

Player activity

Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 12:43 UTC · history via SteamCharts.

30playing at last check
5824-hour peak
823all-time peak
0 100 200 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 141 avg · Oct 2017

Achievement stats

Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-07-25.

463achievements
1.4%median completion
0.9%rarest: Shin Hisako Master
27.9% of players 16.0% of players 11.7% of players 10.2% of players 9.3% of players 8.0% of players 7.2% of players 6.8% of players 6.3% of players 5.5% of players 4.8% of players 4.2% of players 4.1% of players 3.6% of players 3.3% of players 3.2% of players 3.1% of players 2.9% of players 2.7% of players 2.6% of players 2.5% of players 2.3% of players 2.2% of players 2.1% of players 2.0% of players 1.9% of players 1.9% of players 1.8% of players 1.8% of players 1.7% of players 1.6% of players 1.5% of players 1.5% of players 1.4% of players 1.4% of players 1.4% of players 1.3% of players 1.3% of players 1.3% of players 1.3% of players 1.2% of players 1.2% of players 1.2% of players 1.2% of players 1.1% of players 1.1% of players 1.1% of players 1.1% of players 1.1% of players 1.1% of players 1.1% of players 1.0% of players 1.0% of players 1.0% of players 1.0% of players 1.0% of players 1.0% of players 1.0% of players 1.0% of players 1.0% of players 27.9% 0% most earned rarest
Almost everyone has
27.9%Triple Trials! — Complete 3 trials
22.7%Stylish Jago — Unlock a color for Jago
20.5%White Belt — Complete 5 Dojo lessons
Rarest badges of honor
0.9%Shin Hisako Master — Reach 150 Fight Challenges with Shin Hisako
0.9%Battle-worn Shin Hisako — Hidden achievement
0.9%Tusk Master — Reach 150 Fight Challenges with Tusk

Price tracking

US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.

Freecurrent · sampled 2026-07-26 08:39 UTC
Freelowest since tracking began2026-07-11

Latest official news

Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.

Jul 19, 2024
Killer Instinct Anniversary Bundle 60% Off During EVO!

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/43437/ From now through July 22nd, players can pick up the Killer Instinct Anniversary EVO Bundle from the Steam Store. This bundle includes the base game, all An

May 17, 2023
Quality-of-Life May Update

Migration of services to PlayFab. Read post here: https://www.ultra-combo.com/quality-of-life-may-update/ Fixed an issue where both players would lose points after leaving Ranked mode on Steam.

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Screenshots

Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.

Facts & details

From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-20.

GenresAction, Free To Play
Player tagsFighting · Action · Multiplayer · 2D Fighter · Great Soundtrack · Arcade · Free to Play · Singleplayer · Competitive · Local Multiplayer · 2.5D · Controller (SteamSpy community voting)
FeaturesSingle-player · Multi-player · PvP · Online PvP · Shared/Split Screen PvP · Shared/Split Screen · Steam Achievements · Full controller support
LanguagesEnglish * , French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian *
ControllerFull support
Achievements463
Estimated owners200,000 – 500,000 (SteamSpy)
Official sitehttps://www.ultra-combo.com/
Minimum system requirements (PC)

Minimum: OS: Windows 10 Processor: Intel Core i5-750 @ 2.67 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 965 @ 3.4 GHz Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 or AMD Radeon HD 5850 DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 48 GB available space