Something to look forward to: What happens when an established IP runs out of new ideas? You wipe the slate and start over anew, or at least that appears to be what NetherRealm Studios has in store for Mortal Kombat.
The developer recently shared a teaser depicting the second hand on a clock ticking towards 12, presumably to signal the next game in the series – Mortal Kombat 12. When the second hand reaches 11, however, it struggles briefly before jumping right over 12 and starting back normally from one.
Most believe the teaser, which is titled "It Is Almost Time," indicates a reboot is on the way. According to one Twitter leaker, the game will be called Mortal Kombat 1 and is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch and PC in three tiers: standard, premium, and a collector's edition.
Mortal Kombat landed in arcades on October 8, 1992, with highly polished graphics and record levels of violence and gore. Gamers couldn't funnel the quarters in fast enough. By the following summer, Mortal Kombat was the second top-grossing arcade game behind NBA Jam. The pump had been primed and developers ran with it.
Several mainline and spinoff games were delivered through the end of the 90s and throughout the 2000s. In 2011, the series was rebooted and continued, albeit at a slower pace than before. If the latest teaser is taken at face value, it'd be the second reboot for the series.
NetherRealm had the perfect opportunity to drop a reboot last year for the series' 30th anniversary. Instead, fans got a 30th anniversary bundle that was lame by most standards.
A reboot of a fighting game is a bit tough for me to relate to simply because I never played Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter II, or any fighting game for the storylines but I understand that's not the case for everyone. With any luck, the reboot will be something that gamers can enjoy universally – one with modern graphics that's engaging, fun to play, and has a quality storyline.