Mortal Kombat 1 revealed, takes the franchise back in time

The next Mortal Kombat game – titled Mortal Kombat 1, an entry that will take the series to the past – is coming (officially) this year. Warner Bros. Games and longtime series developer NetherRealm Studios announced the next Mortal Kombat game on Thursday with a reveal trailer, confirming that the fighting game will be released on September 19 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.

The first trailer for Mortal Kombat 1 confirms the return of some familiar faces: Shang Tsung, Liu Kang, Raiden, Scorpion, Kitana, Mileena and Sub-Zero. But they look very different from the combatants players have known for the past 30 years, such as Mortal Kombat 1 takes place deep in the history of MK.

NetherRealm and publisher Warner Bros. to call MK1 a “Mortal Kombat universe reborn created by the fire god Liu Kang”, featuring “reimagined versions of iconic characters.” The developer is promising a new combat system, game modes, and the series’ iconic fatalities, some of which can be seen in the debut trailer above. Mortal Kombat 1 will also include a new feature called Kameo Fighters, described as “a unique roster of […] partners to help you in the fight.”

NetherRealm’s most recent Mortal Kombat game, Mortal Kombat 11was released in April 2019. The developer added 12 more characters to the roster and released an expansion pack, Aftermaththrough 2020. In 2021, the studio said it was “focusing on its next project” after supporting Mortal Kombat 11 for more than two years.

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath ended with ancient villain Shang Tsung defeating Kronika and stealing her time-turning abilities. But MK hero Liu Kang pulls a time travel trick on Tsung by defeating him, taking Kronika’s abilities for himself, with plans to create a New Era of the Mortal Kombat timeline (and bring back his many dead friends) . Liu Kang then travels back in time to train the original Kung Lao and prepare him for Mortal Kombat matches to come.