It Is Finally Confirmed! The new Mortal Kombat 12, which has been rumored since 2021, has been officially announced. Well, sort of. In a very underwhelming and likely accidental reveal, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment confirmed the 12th installment of the popular fighting game during a conference call. And the target release date for the latest game is 2023. But the exact Mortal Kombat 12 release date isn’t clear.
But given how Mortal Kombat 12 was confirmed and the absence of any formal announcement, it was likely an unintentional reveal. Let’s discuss this more.
The Mortal Kombat 12 Rumors
Rumors of Mortal Kombat XII started to take off in July 2021, when NetherRealm Studios announced they’re ending support for Mortal Kombat 11. The announcement was made on the official Mortal Kombat Twitter account. The Mortal Kombat latest news through their tweet also mentioned that the studio was starting to focus on its new project, which many believed to be the 12th installment of the popular fighting game. Though they never specifically confirmed or denied anything, it wasn’t out of the ordinary to think it’s MK 12 since the announcement was made on Mortal Kombat Official Twitter.
Many were already in anticipation of any possible news or leaks about the next Mortal Kombat game. A game of this magnitude and popularity will usually have big announcements or it will be revealed during certain milestones, like the 30th anniversary of the franchise last October 2022. But no announcement was made. NetherRealm and Warner Bros. usually release a new Mortal Kombat game every April, so an announcement should have been made around this time.
But the year 2022 ended without anything. Not even a confirmation of MK12 was provided. There was still a chance to make the April deadline, had the developers announced the game during CES 2023. But since nothing happened, it’s safe to say that an April 2023 release date is highly unlikely already. It’s either the developers who release a new game later in 2023 or in April 2024.
The Surprise Announcement
January and February came and went with nothing but still speculation and rumors about the Mortal Kombat 12 game. By this time, it’s already certain that an April 2023 release date is not going to happen. It’s why everyone was caught by surprise when Warner Bros., during a Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Call, announced that they’re planning a 2023 release of certain games, which includes Mortal Kombat 12.
This reveal is very unusual, considering how big the Mortal Kombat game is. It’s one of the most popular franchises when it comes to fighting games, on par with the likes of Tekken and Street Fighter. The underwhelming announcement is very unprecedented. You would expect this kind of game would be announced under a grand spectacle or at least a big gaming event like the Game Developer’s Conference 2023.
So it was likely a slip of the tongue from Warner Bros.’s side. If you look at NetherRealm or even the official social media sites of Mortal Kombat, no announcements have been made yet. They likely didn’t intend to announce the game in this way but it sort of just happened.
When Would the Mortal Kombat 12 Release Date be?
As mentioned above, April was the usual release date for new Mortal Kombat games. This is at least for the ones that NetherRealm developed, which are Mortal Kombat 9, 10, and 11. These three have been released every April. But before that, the three Mortal Kombat games preceding that were released in October.
Of course, this was when it was Midway Games and Kung Fu Factory. But NetherRealm and Warner Bros. can still push for an October 2023 target release date. It’s if they’re adamant about releasing the Mortal Kombat 12 game this year. If they’re not in a hurry, April 2024 is the more likely release date for this fighting game.
Will There Still Be A Major Announcement?
The “slip up” doesn’t mean a grand spectacle announcement won’t happen anymore. It can still happen and both NetherRealm and Warner Bros. still have plenty of events where they can make that kind of announcement. As mentioned above, there are still major events happening this year that can serve as the developers’ stage for announcing Mortal Kombat 12. And it’s like the mention of the game during the conference call is already the definitive announcement.
NetherRealm will still likely come out with the game’s trailer, some information about the characters, details of the gameplay, and so on. They still have to release these details. And it’s possible they’ll reveal these things within the month or at least the following month. It’s just a shame that they missed out on the chance of having a grand announcement for the game, instead of an underwhelming confirmation. But it’s still good news, nonetheless, that a Mortal Kombat 12 is in the works.
It’s only a matter of time before we get more details about it. And you can stay tuned here for these upcoming details in PlayPC!
