Patience is a virtue, let us never forget that – especially if you’re a Mortal Kombat fan, because patience might be something that Mortal Kombat fans need to be demonstrating in the short term. The Mortal Kombat franchise, which was born on October 8. 1992 with the launch of the original game, and was last seen with its eleventh core entry, 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11, is on the verge of celebrating its 30th anniversary, in just three days as a matter of fact. So while it is of course a time to celebrate, it has also become a time for fans to speculate on the franchise’s future prospects. Now, franchise legend, and co-creator Ed Boon has injected his thoughts into the mix and consequently has doused some of the frenzied hopes and dreams that had been emerging from this pre-anniversary.
Boon has been a busy man on Twitter lately addressing fan questions and comments regarding the future of the IP, and when we might learn more about a Mortal Kombat 12, but also the Injustice titles that have been a more recent addition to the developers release rotation. The upshot is quite simple, don’t go expecting anything until after the celebrations for the Mortal Kombat 30th anniversary are over. “We know a lot of you are excited about the next NetherRealm Studios game announcement and it will happen in due time, but first it’s all about 30 years of Mortal Kombat. That’s what we’re going to celebrate and focus on. Our next game announcement will be separate from MK30.” Boon said.
The recent release cadence from the studio would dictate that a third entry in the Injustice franchise, a franchise that kicked off with 2013’s Injustice: Gods Among Us, and was followed up by Injustice 2 in 2017, should be next in the release line-up from the studio. Despite the current norm suggesting that it could be an Injustice 3, there’s also a romance that goes with a new Mortal Kombat being revealed at or around the time of the franchise’s milestone 30th anniversary. What form this takes though takes us to the place where fans have been recently dwelling. Could it be Mortal Kombat 12? How about a remastered collection of older titles? What about a new crossover? The potential choices are plentiful, but the fact that Boon is being open with fans should only be considered to be a positive in a day and age where secrecy rules supreme.
It wasn’t long ago that famed insider Jeff Grubb reported that Netherealm was exploring a Mortal Kombat 12 next anyway, saying “It 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,” The reason behind it being that a Mortal Kombat game was a more profitable and likely to be more successful bet, something that parent company WB Games would appreciate considering their recent financial instability.
