The Mortal Kombat 11 reveal at The Game Awards in 2018 was unexpected, as its trailer was spliced into the nominees for the Best Sports/Racing Game. However, NetherRealm Studios won’t be repeating that same trick for its next game during the 2022 show.
4 years ago at the Game Awards we managed to pull off a surprise announcement of MK11, which turned out great.
Perhaps too great, as many assumed we’d repeat that trick for our next game.
Thank you for the anticipation, but we’re not ready to announce the next NRS game yet. pic.twitter.com/QMXsuEPchR
— Ed Boon (@noobde) December 2, 2022
Ed Boon, series co-creator and chief creative officer at NetherRealm, stated as much on Twitter. He talked about how the surprise was good the first time around, but said the team is not ready to announce its next game just yet. This is similar to what Boon said around Evo 2022 where he made sure to temper expectations beforehand.
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While NetherRealm is making a mobile Mortal Kombat RPG, it’s still a mystery what its next big console game is. However, Boon has recently been taking to Twitter to answer questions, some of which have contained small teases of what’s to come. One user asked for a hint concerning what the studio is working on and Boon replied it was either “I3 or MK12,” undoubtedly meaning Injustice 3 or Mortal Kombat 12.
And while Boon gave two possible answers, reports have pointed more toward Mortal Kombat 12. Insider Jeff Grubb reported in August 2021 that the studio was favoring Mortal Kombat 12 instead of Injustice 3 due to hesitancy surrounding Warner Bros. A NetherRealm employee also seemingly leaked (and quickly deleted) a desk photo that contained a shot of their monitor where some file names suggested Mortal Kombat 12. Johnny Cage’s voice actor also posted a video of himself visiting a Warner Bros. facility with some Mortal Kombat-esque music playing in the background. That video was swiftly pulled, too.
Regardless of what it is, this is the longest NetherRealm has taken between projects, as April 2023 will mark four years since Mortal Kombat 11‘s release. The team typically released new games every other year since 2011’s Mortal Kombat reboot. Mortal Kombat 11, however, was supported much longer than normal, as it received 12 post-launch characters, new finishers, more gear, and a whole story expansion over the span of a couple years.