Ed Boon Gives Disappointing Mortal Kombat Update
We assume that Ed Boon is sat in his office right now, practising his best "Finish Him" voice, as the Mortal Kombat overlord just K.O.'ed our hopes of a new game coming out anytime soon. Yes, the brutal brawler might be celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2022, but that doesn't mean NetherRealm Studios is stepping back into the ring.
Long before Super Smash Bros. or even Tekken were on the scene, Mortal Kombat was THE defining beat-em-up... sorry Streets of Rage. Moving from its arcade days under Midway Games to a console favourite, the MK name has grown to be a juggernaut of the fighting scene. Everyone is looking ahead at the mythical Mortal Kombat 12, but we'd say, don't hold your breath.
Is A New Mortal Kombat Game On The Way?
If you were disappointed by Zelda offering the lacklustre The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD to celebrate Hyrule's 35th anniversary last year, you ain't seen nothing yet. Even though October 8 marks 30 years since we first entered an arcade to bust up Johnny Cage as Sonya Blade, we're wanted not to expect anything from the franchise this year.
Boon took to Twitter with a celebratory post, which got a reply from someone asking, "Speaking of the 30th anniversary, are we expecting something big soon or no?" Pulling no punches, Boon simply responded saying: "Soon? No." Yikes, well that seemingly blows those rumours that NetherRealm is ready to reveal Mortal Kombat 12 right out of the water.
As you can imagine, the ravenous MK fandom was less than impressed. One disgruntled gamer wrote: "Yeah, something tells me this 30th Anniversary is gonna go by without anything to celebrate it. Just some behind the scenes footage and a montage reel made on Sony Vegas, that's it." Another added, "Kinda sad how this is the only info we get, like come on y'all can do so much better. Mk is honestly turning more and more into a cash grab and at this point i really don't know if I'll be buying the next game. So many other studios that keep the fans updated but we get this..."
What's Next For NetherRealm?
It's a sad state of affairs that this once heavy-hitter has been left to languish in the depths of gaming limbo. Boon has already confirmed there won't be any more character DLCs for MK11, which means we'll have to wait until at least MK12 (if it exists) for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Let's also remember that Mortal Kombat isn't the only arrow in the studio's quiver.
Away from Raiden, Jax, and the rest, we've got the runaway success of the comic book-centric Injustice games. Similar to MK11, we've heard a lot about Injustice 3, and then there's Moon Knight's Jeremy Slater working on a Mortal Kombat movie sequel. Finally, what about those wild whispers NetherRealm is tinkering away on an epic Marvel vs DC fighting game? Basically, there's a lot going on with the Mortal Kombat name and its offshoots, it just sounds like Boon is taking a breather.