Mortal Kombat 11released in April of 2019, completing the trilogy of games started by NetherRealm Studios in 2011. The eleventh entry in the classic fighting game franchise was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews, with some critics saying that it is “by far, the best entry in the series to date.”
Since the game’s release,Mortal Kombat 11has seen a wealth of new content come to the game from new skins for existing fighters on the roster, to DLC characters like Sindel, Spawn, The Terminator, Nightwolf, and Robocop. And with the release of the Aftermath expansion, which expanded onMortal Kombat 11’s story, andrumors of 19 new DLC characters on the way, it seems thatMortal Kombat 11has a long life ahead of it.
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However, like all good things, the age ofMortal Kombat 11will eventually come to an end. Whether it’s because the competitive scene will die off, the casual audience will move on to other fighting games, or NetherRealm Studios will shift focus to a new title, it’s an inevitability that fans will likely need to brace themselves for. And with anew job listing hinting at new NetherRealm games coming to next-gen consoles, players will likely start speculating what NetherRealm Studios will release to follow up one of their greatest titles yet.
Injustice 3
Perhaps the most likely next title to be released by NetherRealm Studios is the third entry in theInjusticeseries.Injustice, NetherRealm’s fighting game steeped in the world of DC Comics, has been released in-between each entry in the recentMortal Kombattrilogy.Injustice 2was the last entry in the series before the release ofMortal Kombat 11, with many praising the game’s story content as possibly one of the best fighting game story ever.
It seems that sinceMortal Kombat 11released last April, the internet has been rife with rumors ofInjustice 3’s eventual release. One such rumor came from artistBossLogic who teased at the possibility of Watchmen charactersmaking an appearance in the nextInjusticegame. And with DC Comics recently making the announcement that it will be continuing its run ofInjusticecomics, it probably would make sense if NetherRealm Studios decided to make that its next title.
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A Brand New Series
Of course, it is always possible that NetherRealm could decide to test the waters with a brand new series. A few months ago, rumors began to circulate thatNetherRealm has begun work on a new project that is not related toMortal KombatorInjustice. These rumors came from an interview by Geoff Keighley with NetherRealm’s creative director Ed Boon who had said that the studio has, “other stuff in the oven” besides its traditional rotating franchises.
For those that don’t know, NetherRealm Studios is owned by Warner Bros. Interactive and thanks to this ownership, NetherRealm has quite a repertoire of intellectual properties that it could possibly make a game based off of. While nothing is known as to what this potential new IP could be, it seems like NetherRealm has plenty of options from Cartoon Network toHarry Potter.
Mortal Kombat 12
Finally, there is always the possibility that NetherRealm Studios could break tradition and releaseMortal Kombat 12as its next title. While this choice would be unexpected, it seems natural that the studio would want to jump right into the next game into the series, especially when one considers the successMortal Kombat 11has had.
As far as the story for whatMortal Kombat 12would look like, it’s difficult to say.Mortal Kombat 11’s Aftermath DLC ends with players taking the side of eitherShang Tsung or Fire God Liu Kang to become the new God of Time, with extremely different endings depending on which character the player chose.Mortal Kombat 12has the unique opportunity to “rewrite history” and create completely new versions of classic characters, such as a version of Scorpion that deals in electricity or Raiden being a member of the cyber Lin Kuei. The possibilities are seemingly endless.
Mortal Kombat 11is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, and Xbox One.
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