In recent months, Netherrealm Studios has been slowly teasing another installment in the Mortal Kombat series. But now, we’ve gotten a more firm confirmation that the next game is on the horizon.On social media, the official Mortal Kombat Twitter account and MK co-creator Ed Boon shared a video of a ticking clock counting up to the number 12, only for it to pause and then skip over it and back to the number 1.
Does anyone know what time it is? #MortalKombatpic.twitter.com/pXY2wlidde
— Ed Boon (@noobde) May 10, 2023
This tease aligns it with a previous video focusing on a 30th-anniversary tribute to the series. At the end of that video, we saw a short animation of an hourglass, with the sand inside freezing. No doubt, this is a reference to Mortal Kombat 11‘s time-traveling antagonist Kronika, who manipulated the sands of time to disrupt the timeline.
The return of Mortal Kombat
The first mention of a new Mortal Kombat game came from a Warner Bros. Discovery investor meeting, with current CEO David Savlov casually mentioning that a new video game was on track for a 2023 release — despite no announcement having been made previously about the game. Even series co-creator Ed Boon was surprised by the sudden mention on his Twitter page, but he poked fun at it. Though we have no details about what the next MK game will be like, it will more likely continue the focus on time travel and blending different eras of the series, which was a crucial part of the previous game.
Over the last decade, Netherrealm Studios established a pattern with its development schedule, shifting gears from the Mortal Kombat franchise and the DC Comics fighting game series Injustice. However, the development studio will be sticking with the Mortal Kombat series for the foreseeable future. The next DC Comics game will be the upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which was recently delayed to February 2024.
The Mortal Kombat series is kicking into high gear following its 30th anniversary. Along with a new game, the sequel to the 2021 live-action film is currently heading into production. It was recently announced that Karl Urban (The Boys, Star Trek, and Dredd) will be playing Johnny Cage in the sequel, which will continue with the MK fighters and new hero Cole facing off against warriors from the netherrealm.
So far, we don’t indicate when this next game will be announced — it could likely be a Summer Game Fest reveal or perhaps its own stand-alone announcement. But we will continue to monitor details as they come in.
Alessandro Fillari is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @afillari.
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