It has been a very long time since we have had any updates on what has been going on at NetherRealm Studios. Last July official support for Mortal Kombat 11 ended over two years after its release. Since then NetherRealm has been very quiet, more quiet than usual. The tweet announcing the end of Mortal Kombat 11‘s development only said they were working on their next project, with no hint at what that might be. Well today, a producer at NetherRealm may have spilled the beans. A Mortal Kombat 12 leak may have just been happened, and said bean-spilling may also have been completely intentional.
As spotted by VGC, Jonathan Andersen, a senior production manager at NetherRealm Studios, tweeted out a picture of his desk, adorned with pictures and material from the Mortal Kombat and Injustice franchises. However, way up in the right corner of the photo you can clearly see on Jonathan’s desktop a file titled “MK12_Mast.” Looking closely at the monitor on the right you see an apparent email from within NetherRealm. The legible part of the email reads: “our fans eagerly scrape the internet for any trace” and “Take extra care with this material.” Winks on top of winks? VGC writes that the picture was removed about 10 minutes after it was shared.
The information is so conspicuously laid out that many believe this was not a “leak” but a calculated tease by the developer. Rumors have been circulating for months about what the studio’s upcoming project could be. Everything from Mortal Kombat 12, Injustice 3, and even a Marvel fighting game have been reported to be in development. However, a new Injustice does make sense considering the tenuous status of WB Games, which has control over the games based on the DC Comics characters.
(Source: Jonathan Anderson via VGC).
Round 12… FIGHT?
Rumors abounded last year that WB Games was being sold off in the larger merger between Warner Bros. and AT&T, which would include NetherRealm Studios. While this didn’t end up happening, it was announced last year that WB Games’ parent company, WarnerMedia, would merge with Discovery. At this time though, it is unclear what WB Games’ status is within all this corporate shuffling. So Mortal Kombat 12 seems like the safest bet from NetherRealm’s standpoint.
To be honest, I am a little disappointed that we may be going straight from Mortal Kombat 11 into Mortal Kombat 12. I would have loved to have seen what a next-gen Injustice would have looked like, or even that rumored Marvel game. Heck, I think we all just want an HD re-release of Shaolin Monks, right? Regardless, we will probably know what NetherRealm has up its sleeve sooner rather than later. But, most importantly, if this does end up being true, put Ash Williams in it this time!
