Mortal Kombat Teaser: T-1000's Fate Unraveled

Mortal Kombat 1's Ed Boon Hints at Future DLC Following T-1000 Reveal

Ed Boon, the creative director behind Mortal Kombat 1, recently shared a sneak peek of the upcoming T-1000 Terminator's Fatality on social media, simultaneously teasing future downloadable content (DLC). This follows the release of the Conan the Barbarian guest character, which Boon celebrated by announcing that Mortal Kombat 1 has surpassed five million copies sold.

Boon's tweet showcased a brief clip of the T-1000's Fatality, a nod to the iconic truck chase scene from Terminator 2. The accompanying comment, however, sparked considerable speculation within the Mortal Kombat community: "With Conan getting into player’s hands, we are excited to keep trucking forward with future DLC!"

While this statement could simply refer to the imminent arrival of the T-1000—the final DLC character in the Khaos Reigns expansion—many fans interpret it as a hint towards additional DLC characters beyond the current roster, which includes Cyrax, Sektor, Noob Saibot, Ghostface, and Conan. The question of a potential third DLC pack or "Kombat Pack 3" has been a topic of much discussion, particularly given the game's sales success.

Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company, has expressed continued confidence in the Mortal Kombat franchise. CEO David Zaslav stated in November that the company intends to prioritize just four game titles, with Mortal Kombat being one of them. Further bolstering speculation, Boon himself confirmed in September that NetherRealm had already chosen its next project three years prior, while pledging long-term support for Mortal Kombat 1.

Many anticipate NetherRealm's next title to be a third installment in the Injustice fighting game franchise, though this remains unconfirmed by either the developer or Warner Bros. The development timeline has shifted from a seemingly alternating release pattern between Mortal Kombat and Injustice, with the release of Mortal Kombat 11 in 2019 and the recent Mortal Kombat 1 soft reboot in 2023.

In a June 2023 interview with IGN, Boon vaguely addressed this decision, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition to a newer Unreal Engine (Unreal Engine 4 for Mortal Kombat 1, compared to Unreal Engine 3 for Mortal Kombat 11) as contributing factors. He explicitly confirmed, however, that the Injustice franchise remains a possibility.