Warner Bros and Netherrealm Studios have announced the authoritative version of Mortal Kombat 1, which will feature all DLC characters, new movie skins “and more”. This newly packaged Blood Fighter is now available and offers people the opportunity to have everything. However, the news has been filled with strong negative reactions and especially horrible given the recent quarterly financial report of Warner Bros.
This confirmed version is likely to be the final version of the game, which only appeared two years after its release in 2023. To our knowledge, the game has sold at least 5 million copies and remains a premium ranking on monthly download consoles, a fact recently highlighted by Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon. Does this sound like good news? Yes, but other contexts depict a more complex picture.
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While the Mortal Kombat 1's 5 million sales figure sounds great, the Mortal Kombat X has a lifespan of more than 12 million copies, while the Mortal Kombat 11 (the best MK ever) breaks 10 million sales milestones. Therefore, Mortal Kombat 1's sales performance seems to be much smaller than past releases.
In Warner Bros' Q1 2025 financial report, the company's revenue fell 48% compared to last year. This is attributed to last year’s suicide lineup: Kill Justice League (underperforming), and the higher carry from the Hogwarts Legacy and Mortal Kill Kombat 1 last year.
Why this is particularly frustrating for a portion of fans is that this sure version marks the short lifespan of Mortal Kombat 1. Last September, Ed Boon landed on Twitter, noting that the team hasn't started working for the next game at Netherrealm, and that “Netherrealm is still entirely committed to providing long-term support for Mortal Kombat 1.” To give Mr. Boon a break, if Warner Bros. wants Netherrealm to get into the new game, it's not his phone call. I'm sure he and the team will be working on Mortal Kombat 1 for many years if they can. But, given that claim, you have to doubt how far we are from the next game of Netherrealm, if it's only eight months to handle it.
But this is frustrating for Mortal Kombat fans! It feels like it's performing well compared to other fighting games (although not previous MKS), which is probably the DLC carpet pulled from under it. The competitive scenario will now leave the final version, somewhat hindering its potential for development, and it will disappear from people’s minds as people wait for Mortal Kombat 2 or Injustice 3 or Injustice 3 or Injustice 3 or whatever you have.
Unless they call it the “authoritative version”, unless they do continue to release DLCs. Which…that would be crazy, but you never know.
Yes, it's an idea for the Netherrealm team to let us know what you want to see from Netherrealm below!
