NetherRealm’s next project has been quite a big point of speculation in the gaming industry. With the developer’s last title beingMortal Kombat 11back in 2019, it was about time for a new project, but fans probably weren’t expecting that new project to be a mobile-exclusive RPG. TitledMortal Kombat: Onslaught,this mobile RPG was announced just a few days ago, and while it’s still early days, some fans are unsure of what this means for the rest of the franchise, includinga potentialMortal Kombat 12.
Over the last decade or so, NetherRealm has done a phenomenal job ofrevitalizing theMortal Kombatfranchise, with the 2011 game acting as a reboot of the franchise and the perfect introduction for newcomers,Mortal Kombat Xhoning in on what makes the series so unique and expanding on it, andMortal Kombat 11introducing some new, meatier systems to keep players invested.Mortal Kombat: Onslaught, however, seems to be a bit of an outlier.
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What Mortal Kombat: Onslaught Means For Mortal Kombat 12
Mortal Kombat: Onslaughtmarks quite the departure from the franchise’s usual formula. While NetherRealm has released a series ofMortal Kombatgames, andInjusticetitles, on mobile platforms, they’ve always been ports or spinoffs of the main series. For instance,Mortal Kombat XandMortal Kombat 11have both been ported to iOS and Android devices, albeit with some control changes and some slight gameplay tweaks to make them more streamlined.
Mortal Kombat: Onslaught, however, is a full mobile title, exclusive to that platform. According toNetherRealm’s recent announcement,Mortal Kombat: Onslaughtwill feature a reimagined take on the usualMortal Kombatgameplay formula, swapping out 1v1 side-scrolling fights for strategic, fast-paced, group combat. On top of the combat, players will also be collecting a variety of characters from acrossMortal Kombat’s long history, which they’ll then presumably be able to use in subsequent battles.
It seems as thoughMortal Kombat: Onslaughtis going to be quite a different take on the franchise, which could mean that NetherRealm still has a mainline sequel in the works. All ofOnslaught’s promotional material has expressed that the mobile game is expressly designed to target new players and expand the franchise onto new platforms. In fact, thePresident of Warner Bros. Games, David Haddadstated that theMortal Kombatfranchise is being designed to “engage players and advance the fighting genre across multiple platforms.” This all seems to suggest thatMortal Kombat: Onslaughtisn’t necessarily NetherRealm’s next large-scale project, and that futureMortal Kombatgames are still being planned for consoles as well.
So, it seems like a pretty safe bet to assume thatMortal Kombat: Onslaughtis not replacing a potentialMortal Kombat 12. But that being said,Mortal Kombat 12might not be NetherRealm’s next big console project. For a while now, it’s been heavily rumored that NetherRealm is currently working on a Marvel fighting game. While these rumors have never been substantiated by any real evidence, that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating, and it hasn’t stopped NetherRealm’s Creative Director Ed Boon from stoking the flames.
Just a month ago, Boon posted a poll on Twitter asking what game fans want to see next from the studio and included four options:Mortal Kombat 12,Injustice 3, a Marvel game, or a Marvel Vs DC game. Unsurprisingly, theMarvel Vs DC gamewon the poll by a landslide. Regardless of whether NetherRealm ends up making a Marvel game or not, it seems unlikely that the studio’s next project will beMortal Kombat 12, as the last title only came out a few years ago. But it’s also unlikely thatMortal Kombat: Onslaughthas affected a potentialMortal Kombat 12in any significant way.
