Ed Boon has stated that he was planning to include one character exclusive to the Xbox 360 version of the game. He also said that most of the development team had Twitter accounts so they could directly interact with fans of the series, and often paid close attention to what fans were saying.

Fans made suggestions about including Master Chief (Halo) and Marcus Fenix (Gears of War) as playable characters. In an interview with Eurogamer, Boon didn't put much detail into why they weren't approved for the game. He stated, "I'm not allowed to talk too much about it, but that is all I can say. It was not a decision we made where we said 'Oh, let's not do one for the 360.' Anybody who's really knowledgeable about the Xbox video games, the big titles, names like Master Chief from Halo, Marcus Fenix from Gears of War, and any other Xbox exclusive title, is going to come up in a conversation in talking about it. So clearly, we've discussed it."

Why NetherRealm Studios weren't allowed to use them as playable characters for Mortal Kombat remains unclear.