While 2023’s Mortal Kombat 1 didn’t impress critics and fans as much as the other modern entries in the series, it still proved highly successful for developer NetherRealm Studios and publisher Warner Bros. Games, with “8 million units sold and kounting“. It’s no surprise then to hear confirmation a new entry is in the works.
Mortal Kombat 2, the big-screen sequel to 2021’s so-so movie reboot, releases this week, and NetherRealm creative director Ed Boon has been spending time with the press to mark the occasion. And in a recent chat with Collider, he confirmed more Mortal Kombat is on the way.
“We are actively pursuing, or definitely pursuing, another Mortal Kombat game. We’re definitely doing more as well. So there’s a lot of pots on the stove; not just with games, with other forms of media and whatnot, so we’ve got a lot of great announcements that are coming”, Boon revealed when asked about the series’ future.
Boon’s comment arrives shortly after a new leak pointed to the third Injustice being the next fighter on NetherRealm’s roadmap. Considering James Gunn’s rebooted DC universe is taking off on the big and small screen and DC Comics is doing really well at the moment, this feels like a sensible move if it’s eventually confirmed.
In any case, NetherRealm is forever tied to Mortal Kombat, and with support for MK1 ending roughly a year ago, its next game has probably been in the works for quite a while now.
Eurogamer’s three-star review of Mortal Kombat 1 called it “a false start in the race for reinvention” despite positives where story, visuals, and combat were concerned: “Serious evolution is needed if this franchise is to keep up with the pace of its modern competition, and galvanise itself for the coming decades”.
