New ‘Mortal Kombat’ Video Game Announced in the Least Exciting Way Possible

Rejoice! The newest Mortal Kombat game has been confirmed. Just not how anyone expected.

Mortal Kombat is undoubtedly the most popular western developed fighting game series in gaming history. Ed Boon and John Tobias originally envisioned a fighting game starring Jean-Claude Van Damme when they started. Something violent and “edgy”–unlike the big fighting game at the time, Street Fighter 2.

When in talks to use Van Damme and his movie licenses, they went ahead and developed a game that would last 30+ years. Mortal Kombat came out in 1992 and was an instant hit. It also accidentally created the ESRB because parents were not happy that games all of a sudden involved ripping people’s heads off.

Mortal Kombat has since been a cultural phenomenon. It spawned tons of sequels, spin-offs, action figures, cartoons, shorts, and TV shows. It has stood the test of time again and again. Mortal Kombat made changes in gameplay, new characters, story upsets, and even the bankruptcy of the original studio.

The latest title, Mortal Kombat 11, included some wild guest stars like Robocop, Joker, Rambo, and Spawn. Ed Boon has been celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Mortal Kombat since last year with posts celebrating the releases of various MK games. This had many people anxious about a possible announcement coming. Especially after he hinted that something would release in 2023.

Mortal Kombat 12

David Zaslav, CEO and president of Warner Bros. Discovery, recently did an investor’s call where he talked about upcoming WB projects. He mentioned gaming with the company’s hopes for a 2023 release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Zaslav then casually drops a huge bombshell by saying, like everyone knew, that Mortal Kombat 12 would be released in 2023.

This nonchalant announcement of Mortal Kombat 12 is an incredibly huge bummer. Not because I’m not excited for more Mortal Kombat or that I was hoping for Injustice 3. It’s that it was just a footnote in a speech by a CEO with no excitement behind it. Especially for a series that is 30+ years old.

Many are speculating that an announcement was going to take place at E3 or Evo this year. Honestly, even a quick tweet out by Ed Boon would have been more exciting than Zaslav just throwing it out there. Ed Boon took the news coming out with some humor–while also pouring salt in the wounds of Injustice fans.

The Future of Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat has one of the most consistently-changing stories in fighting games. Characters have married and had kids, been killed off, resurrected, turned good, turned bad, and turned into gods. Mortal Kombat 11 was basically “what if people with nostalgia hated where Mortal Kombat ended with Johnny Cage and his family being Earth’s Mightiest Champions?”

The ending of the last game teased that things would be different. Liu Kang is a Fire God now and the timeline is getting rebooted again like in Mortal Kombat (2011). The fate of many characters is now up in the air. Liu Kang now fulfills the Raiden role.

My wish list is shorter than most–if a game keeps my mains of Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, and Johnny Cage, I’m happy with it. We can only hope to see more returning characters and plot details in coming months. I can’t wait to see what bloody fun Ed Boon and NetherRealm Studios have in store for MK fans.

“Those Were $500 Sunglasses, *******!” – Johnny Cage

Author: Spider-Mike

Spider-Mike is a staff writer who is a regular co-host on the let's play channel Rage Select and regular contributor to One of US.net for over 5 years. Born in Austin, but raised on the border of Texas and Mexico. He has been gaming since the NES and jokes that he has a Masters in Spider-Man, Superman, and Dragon Ball.