Recently NetherRealm announced that they were ending support for Mortal Kombat 11, which did extremely well in its lifetime. With one game from the studio at an end, obviously, games have been interested to know what the studio had planned for the future. Obviously, the Mortal Kombat franchise has been hugely popular since its conception in the ’90s, however, for the past few years, the series has had to share the spotlight with another series.
Spinning off from the popular crossover game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, the Injustice series takes a less violent but still dark approach pitting DC characters against each other using the tight combat Mortal Kombat is famous for. Since development has in recent years alternated between these two franchises I am sure many people were wondering, or hopeful, that up next was going to be a potential Injustice 3. According to new whispers, that will not be the case, however.
Disclaimer – This information has not been verified, therefore this is not factual.
According to the industry inside Jeff Grubb, whom we often quote here and who has a pretty solid track record (except that Switch Pro stuff), NetherRealm is choosing to prioritize the development of a new Mortal Kombat over another entry in the Injustice series. This information came from his Grubbsnax podcast.
As Grubb suggests this decision is less about the desire to make a new Injustice game, and more about the current situation at Warner Bros. Due to some corporate moves made by the company, that were facilitated by the recent AT&T Merger, that ultimately led to one studio being sold to EA with others being allegedly shopped around (though they claim now there are no plans to sell others), that has led to the decision to quickly return to their flagship series, instead of using characters that might get tied up in licencing issues should they be sold.
Grubb Stated during his podcast:
The rumor lines up with the reality, and it lines up with what I’ve heard, where Mortal Kombat 12 would make the most sense because that’s a game they know will make money. It will sell well. Mortal Kombat 11 was great. it’s doing well, but if you come out with Mortal Kombat 12, it will also sell and do well At the same time, you don’t have to use any of these Batman or Superman characters that might be tied up in licensing if you try to get rid of NetherRealm or sell it to whoever.
Right now the Mortal Kombat franchise is doing better than it might be any other given year. We have also seen the release of a very successful animated movie based on the series, as well as a pretty successful live-action movie, the first since 1997. While Mortal Kombat has never been outright seen as the absolute best the fight game genre has to offer, that should hardly bother NetherRealm when it continues to have some of the most consistent success.
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