With plenty of rumors flying around that NetherRealm Studios is working on a brand new fighting game based on DC’s superheroes, studio boss Ed Boon has now confirmed that there are plans for another entry in the Mortal Kombat franchise. In an interview with Collider, he spoke about how he couldn’t tease anything for now because he would “probably get in trouble”.
Interestingly, however, he noted that, along with another Mortal Kombat game, NetherRealm Studios is also working on other projects, saying that the studio has “a lot of parts on the stove” and seemingly hinting at transmedia aspirations, where its stories are told outside of video games.
“We’re definitely pursuing another Mortal Kombat game, and we’re definitely doing more, as well, so there are a lot of parts on the stove, not just with games, though, with other forms of media and whatnot. So, we’ve got a lot of great announcements that are coming,” he said.
The previous entry in the Mortal Kombat franchise was 2023’s Mortal Kombat 1. The title saw a decent amount of success, with the studio confirming last month that it had sold 8 million copies. However, its predecessor, 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11, was quite a bit more successful, having hit 15 million sales as of 2022.
After releasing a host of DLC characters for the title, including the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the studio announced in May 2025 that it had turned its attention to other projects, and as a result, was done with post-launch content for the fighting game.
“We understand this will be disappointing for fans, but our team at NetherRealm needs to shift focus to the next project in order to make it as great as we possibly can,” said the studio in a social media post.
Mortal Kombat 1 served as a soft reboot for the entire franchise thanks to the events of Mortal Kombat 11 and its Aftermath DLC. Set in the New Era created by Liu Kang—now Fire God and Keeper of Time—the game tells the story of Shang Tsung slowly discovering that the universe had conspired against him.
In terms of gameplay, Mortal Kombat 1 also brought in a radical shift from its predecessor, leaving behind many of its features like custom movesets in favor of a back-to-basics approach as seen in Mortal Kombat 9. It also introduced Kameo Fighters—assist characters that can help extend combos or even perform unique fatalities. For more details, check out our review of its launch version.
As for what its non-Mortal Kombat project might be, a recent rumor has indicated that NetherRealm Studios might be moving away from the Injustice branding for its superhero fighting game. The decision wouldn’t surprise many, since the last entry in the Injustice franchise was 2017’s Injustice 2. Almost an entire decade removed from the fighting game, the studio may likely tap into other DC comic storylines, like the ongoing Absolute Universe, or even its DC KO crossover series.
