NetherRealm Studios Rumored to be Considering Mortal Kombat 1 Spin-Off

Mortal Kombat 1 developer NetherRealm Studios is rumored to be considering making an action-adventure spin-off of the popular fighting game.

There are claims saying that the video game studio is considering such a game that was made by an insider who has a track record of sharing convincing leaks on social media.

The supposed leak suggests that the Mortal Kombat franchise will be branching out from its multiplayer fighting game roots towards a single-player adventure journey.

Mortal Kombat Spin-Off

NetherRealm Studios Rumored to be Considering Mortal Kombat 1 Spin-Off — NetherRealm Studios is rumored to be considering making a spin-off of Mortal Kombat that will be a single-player adventure.
(Photo : NetherRealm Studios, Warner Bros. Games / Screenshot taken from Steam)

While the highly popular series has traditionally stayed a 3D fighting game franchise, it has a lot of single-player content. The majority of the mainline entries, particularly after the ninth mainline title, had featured cinematic single-player story modes alongside traditional arcade ladders.

On top of this, the franchise has repeatedly dipped its toes into making single-player spin-offs, such as titles like Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero.

While some of these spin-offs, including Special Forces, were critically panned, Shaolin Monks in particular was praised for being an excellent game, according to GameRant.

It became an excellent blueprint of what the series would be able to do if it was a co-op action beat 'em up. But it seems like an action-adventure title like Shaolin Monks is the go-to choice this time around.

The rumor was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, by thevscooper who said that NetherRealm Studios is considering this new effort. While the most likely target of this is the Mortal Kombat franchise, it could also be the studio's Injustice series.

The leaker noted that it is still too early to tell if the rumor would pan out as planned, noting that development plans change frequently. He also said that the pitch could be rejected before it enters development.

Despite being relatively evidenceless and still in the early stages, the leaker's claim already got a lot of fans excited about the potential spin-off. Many people are hoping that NetherRealm Studios could revisit a single-player style of gameplay at some point in the future.

A Single-Player Adventure

Previously, NetherRealm Studios' Ed Boon expressed his interest in a spin-off based on Shaolin Monks. What is also worth noting is that while Shaolin Monks was originally planned to be a single-player project, it later turned into a co-op-based game, said Sportskeeda.

The spin-off game featured fan-favorite characters such as Kung Lao, Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, and Scorpion as the primary playable characters. It also had a versus mode that added more characters to the roster for players to take control of.

Despite this, the rumor also mentioned that it could be for the Injustice series, but seeing a new entry for that franchise is relatively harder for the studio. This is primarily because the series has lost a lot of its popularity and significance in the past few years.

The rumor comes as Mortal Kombat 1 recently introduced a new update that made major changes to its later character, Homelander from The Boys. He is the latest DLC fighter to join the playable roster and has been overhauled in how he interacts with others in the game, according to ComicBook.