Mortal Kombat 1 revealed, launches September 19

It’s in Our Blood.

NetherRealm Studios has revealed the next title in its legendary fighting game series, Mortal Kombat — As teased in recent weeks, the now officially titled Mortal Kombat 1 will launch September 19, 2023.

A reveal trailer, which follows on from the events of Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, sees the newly designated Fire God Liu Kang reshaping the universe in a time of glory, peace, and prosperity. But, as we all know, the best-laid plans of mice and men do not always come to pass — And the interdimensional return of the nefarious sorcerer, Shang Tsung, brings about the chaos of war to this seemingly pleasant, and hugely prosperous new era.

Amidst a typically dramatic and highly-adrenalized cinematic sequence. We get to see appearances from Liu Kang, Kitana, Mileena, Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and, of course, Shang Tsung himself. (Raiden and Johnny Cage have also been konfirmed). We also see what appears to be real-time gameplay footage, focusing on some utterly devastating fatalities, which threaten to take the goo ‘n’ gore levels that are a trademark of the franchise to legitimately unprecedented levels.

“Mortal Kombat 1 marks a new beginning for the franchise and we couldn’t be more excited to share this original storyline and fresh take on classic characters with our fans,” said NetherRealm Studios CCO and Co-Creator of Mortal Kombat, Ed Boon. “We’re also introducing our Kameo Fighter system which brings a unique roster of partner characters into the mix, and we are looking forward to showing this feature as well as more new elements of the game very soon.”

A new website teases another immersive story mode, the promise of new game modes and mechanics, as well as a new feature titled, “Kameo Fighters”, which sounds like an in-battle assist system of sorts — Think Marvel of KoF ’99 — perhaps calling upon the franchise’s legitimately huge universe of fighters. This is purely speculation on my part.

Mortal Kombat 1 launches on PS5, PC, Xbox Series X, and *checks notes* Nintendo Switch on September 19. Pre-orders open tomorrow, May 19. Pre-order customers will unlock Shang Tsung as a playable kombatant and will receive access to a new beta scheduled for August.