Mortal Kombat 1: Definitive Edition Release Sparks Backlash, With Disgruntled Fans Fearing ‘The Game Is Done’ Less Than 2 Years After Launch

Warner Bros. Games has announced and released Mortal Kombat 1: Definitive Edition, which it described as “the most extensive version” of the gory fighting game. But for fans, the release of the Definitive Edition has sparked significant concern that NetherRealm has now moved on from the game, and that it won’t see any new DLC characters or significant content updates.

The Mortal Kombat 1: Definitive Edition offers the main game packaged together with previously released downloadable content, including the Khaos Reigns story expansion, Kombat Pack 1, and Kombat Pack 2.

The Definitive Edition also adds new character skins for Johnny Cage, Kitana, Scorpion, and Shao Khan “inspired” by the upcoming Mortal Kombat 2 film, the Mortal Kombat (2021) movie character skin for Sub-Zero; and the tournament themed character skin (outfit) for Liu Kang.

For fans, The Definitive Edition feels like a line has been drawn under Mortal Kombat 1. While Warner Bros. is known for its definitive and ultimate editions, and indeed NetherRealm games tend to get them, this time there is a sense of finality to the release. And with no announcements forthcoming about a Kombat Pack 3 or anything else meaningful for Mortal Kombat 1, fans believe that’s that.

If true, it’s a big disappointment for hardcore Mortal Kombat 1 fans, who had hoped for significantly longer term support for the game. Indeed, many are now pointing to a September 2024 tweet from NetherRealm development chief Ed Boon, who moved to reassure fans already concerned that the studio had moved onto its next game by saying: “NetherRealm is still fully committed to supporting Mortal Kombat 1 for a long time to come.”

“The game is done, it’s their way of saying ‘Goodbye! Come back the next year or two for another overly priced game bloated with guest characters!’ ” said a clearly disgruntled redditor.

“MK1 officially has a shorter content lifespan than the f***ing Texas Chainsaw Massacre game lmao,” said another.

For context, in July 2021, NetherRealm announced it had started work on its next project (Mortal Kombat 1) and, as a result, there would be no further DLC for Mortal Kombat 11. That announcement came two years and three months after the release of the game. NetherRealm is yet to make a similar announcement for Mortal Kombat 1.

Mortal Kombat 1 enjoyed something of a resurgence in January with the secret fight with Floyd, the pink ninja developer Ed Boon had been teasing for years. That sparked a fun community-wide effort that breathed new life into the game. But that was a rare bright spot for what has, overall, been a disappointing release for many core Mortal Kombat fans.

T-1000 Terminator was the final DLC character added to Mortal Kombat 1 as part of the Khaos Reigns expansion, and follows playable fighters Cyrax, Sektor, Noob Saibot, Ghostface, and Conan the Barbarian. Fans have wondered for some time now whether developer NetherRealm plans a third set of DLC characters, or a Kombat Pack 3, amid questions about Mortal Kombat 1’s sales success.

Parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has indicated, however, that it still believes in the Mortal Kombat franchise. In November, CEO David Zaslav said that on the games side of things, the company plans to double down on just four titles, one of which is Mortal Kombat.

Most fans of the studio’s work expect it to release a third game in its DC fighting game franchise, Injustice, although neither NetherRealm nor Warner Bros. has yet to confirm that. The first game in the series, Injustice: Gods Among Us, launched in 2013, with its sequel, Injustice 2, coming out in 2017. NetherRealm released Mortal Kombat 11 in 2019 and for a time it seemed like the studio would alternate between Mortal Kombat and Injustice games, but it went on to release another Mortal Kombat, the soft reboot that is Mortal Kombat 1, in 2023 instead.

In an interview with IGN in June 2023, Boon spoke in vague terms about this decision. “There were a number of factors, some of which I can talk about, some of which I probably shouldn’t,” Boon said.

Two reasons Boon was willing to discuss were the unfortunate onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the team’s choice to switch to a newer version of the Unreal game engine (Mortal Kombat 11 runs on Unreal Engine 3, whereas Mortal Kombat 1 runs on Unreal Engine 4).

“But we did go to a new graphics engine, Unreal,” Boon said. “We really wanted to be careful with COVID and all that stuff and everybody staying safe. So there were a bunch of variables involved that eventually we realized, ‘Okay, let’s do another Mortal Kombat game and hopefully we’ll get back to the Injustice games.’ “

Just to be sure, we wanted to confirm with him directly that the door was not closed on the Injustice franchise.

“Not at all,” Boon answered.

Mortal Kombat 1 has sold 5 million copies, with the franchise now up to 100 million. Mortal Kombat 11 became the best-selling game in the franchise by passing Mortal Kombat X’s nearly 11 million units sold worldwide. By 2022, Mortal Kombat 11 had sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. Clearly, Mortal Kombat 1 has underperformed compared to previous games in the series.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].