Every few years, NetherRealm Studios releases a new mainline entry in the Mortal Kombat series. The most recent, MK1, rebooted the entire timeline under the newly minted Elder God Liu Kang.
The game has been releasing ‘Kombat Packs, ’ including new characters and stories, but with the recent Khaos Reigns expansion, fans are worried that future planned DLC will no longer happen.
Mortal Kombat 1 DLC Cancelled?
According to Video Games Chronicle, a reliable Reddit leaker u/_FateUnknown_ has confirmed that Kombat Pack 3 for Mortal Kombat 1 has been canceled. Like previous packs, this expansion was expected to contain several other playable characters and maybe another story expansion.
No specifics about why the pack was canceled have been mentioned in the post. VGC claims that it was because of poor sales and reception of the last Kombat Pack Khaos Reigns, which not only provided a new story but a roster of playable characters as well, including Sektor, Cyrax, Noob Saibot, and most recently added, Ghostface (from the Scream franchise).
Kombat Pack 2 is still waiting for the incoming characters T-1000 (from Terminator 2: Judgement Day) and Conan the Barbarian (another Arnold Schwarzenegger character coming to MK).
What was expected from Kombat Pack 3?
Though no official announcement was made about the upcoming DLC from NetherRealm, the same leaker confirmed in his final post that Kombat Pack 3 was supposed to contain a total of six characters—five original Mortal Kombat fighters and one more guest character.
The MK characters were allegedly Jade, Cassie, Kung Jin, Sonya, and Kano, and there was no clue as to who the guest character would be.
A good guess would probably be Ash from Evil Dead, who was buzzed about for MK11, but he ultimately didn’t show up. Fans have polled multiple times as to who should appear, but maybe NTR can bring back some old horror figures like Freddy Kreuger or a Xenomorph from Aliens.
If they wanted to bring in a WB-owned horror figure, Pennywise the Clown from the IT movies would fit right into the roster. If they wanted to go the more comedic route, maybe Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice would be a great gag fighter—he’s already in MultiVersus.
Is It Over?
Since this is just a leak, fans should take the news with a grain of salt. But it is worth noting that the leaker has been right on Reddit several times before.
It’s said that many people in the development team weren’t happy about the decision to scrap the next Kombat Pack, and poor sales of Khaos Reigns were just one ofseveral reasons why the studio decided to cancel it.
There’s a chance that the studio could have a change of heart down the line since so many of the devs were passionate about the DLC, but as it stands, Khaos Reigns has been criticized for being a lackluster expansion considering the price tag. Maybe if the next Kombat Pack were cheaper, more players would reconsider.
Mortal Kombat 1 is now playable for PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and Nintendo Switch.