Ed Boon wants you to know Mortal Kombat 1 is a reboot, not a remake

Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon wants you to know that mortal kombat 1 it’s a reboot, not a new version, despite the name.

Earlier this week, Netherrealm Studios revealed that a new Mortal Kombat game is on the way, one that is starting from the ground up with a new universe created by Fire God Liu Kang. But you’d be forgiven for thinking this is a remake of the first game, or even a remake of Mortal Kombat (2011), itself a reboot of the series. However, that’s not the case at all, with Boon explaining in a video titled “Kommunity Chat with Tyler and Ed” why the game chose to name him that (thanks, PCGamesN).

“Mortal Kombat 1 is the beginning of a universe,” Boon explains. “It’s not a continuation of the Mortal Kombat 11 story, so the characters have completely different roles in this new timeline and we really wanted to emphasize that with our title. This is Mortal Kombat 1, it’s a new beginning, you’re going to seeing these characters reintroduced with new roles, new relationships, and that’s the main catalyst.”

To be very clear: the 1 is basically to say that this is the start of a new Mortal Kombat continuity. Given that there are a ton of things that are simply called Mortal Kombat (i.e. the original game, the 2011 game, the ’90s movie, and the 2021 movie), it’s not entirely surprising that Netherrealm wanted to have something that would. differentiate. just a little more.

The reboot seems to be changing things in many ways, not just in terms of the new universe: classic characters like Scorpion, Kitana, and Johnny Cage are being reimagined, and there will be a roster of “Kameo” fighters to act as assists during matches. These will be a separate list of fighters and may not be playable alone during fights.

Mortal Kombat 1 is scheduled to launch on September 19 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.