New Mortal Kombat Reboot Announced

Amid the rumors and leaks, there has finally been an official announcement from Netherrealm Studios regarding their next big game. Today Netherrealm debuted a cinematic announcement trailer for the next installment of the Mortal Kombat series. However, rather than a continuation of the storyline from Mortal Kombat 11 this new title looks to be a complete reboot of the entire franchise even more so than the 2011 soft reboot.

This new entry is titled Mortal Kombat 1. While the game certainly contains much of what makes the franchise iconic in terms of gore-drenched violence, there’s a lot that has changed on the character front. Familiar faces like Kitana, Sub Zero, and Shang Tsung are still here but their roles appear to have altered significantly. Liu Kang has appeared to have taken the place of Raiden and ascended to godhood, while the ninjas Scorpion and Sub Zero appear to no longer be sworn enemies.

According to the official website, the major new gameplay change for this new entry will be the addition of Kameo Fighters. These will no doubt function similarly to assists in popular tag team fighters such as in Marvel VS Capcom. The site also states that you will choose these fighters from a “unique roster” and states the game will feature two separate character selection screens.

One will be for playable fighters while the other is strictly for assist attack characters that will no doubt allow for expanded character pools without having to create entirely unique movesets for every fighter. This is especially exciting as Mortal Kombat has amassed a massive library of characters over the years and it’s always a little disappointing when your favorite heroes get left behind despite making brief appearances in the story mode or background.

The final notable information from this trailer came in the form of an official release date. Mortal Kombat 1 will be launching September 19th for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and even Nintendo Switch. Players who pre-order the game will of course have access to a bonus character which will be the iconic sorcerer Shang Tsung.