NetherRealm Studios Next Game: Mortal Kombat 12 or Injustice 3?

With the official announcement that the support for Mortal Kombat 11 wrapped up, it’s up in the air as to what developer NetherRealm Studios will work on next. There are different projects they could potentially work on, but it’s all speculation until they reveal something. 

Speculation is fun, however, especially with all of the possibilities. From Mortal Kombat 12 to Injustice 3, here are the potential video games NetherRealm Studios could release next. 

Mortal Kombat 12

An easy conclusion to make is that NetherRealm Studios would jump right into Mortal Kombat 12 after finishing 11. Maybe it’s wishful thinking since Mortal Kombat 11 was amazing, but it could be a possibility.

Released in 2019, Mortal Kombat 11 isn’t old by any stretch of the imagination, and the last big update was released in the middle of last year. 

It does seem unlikely for the next Mortal Kombat installment to be in development, but recently, NetherRealm Studios has been changing things up.

For the first time in the company’s history, they released a story expansion for one of their games. It continued the story and turned it on its head. 

The end of Mortal Kombat 11 saw the entire timeline get restarted, and it’s not clear how the story will continue. NetherRealm Studios are free to tell any story they want, and with an exciting prospect like that, fans are eager to jump into Mortal Kombat 12. 

Besides a story expansion, another new element was being able to customize your character’s abilities and even customize their intro/outro screens. Mortal Kombat is always evolving, so it’s not out of the ordinary to think they would release Mortal Kombat 12 right after 11. 

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks Sequel

Beyond Mortal Kombat 12, another game fans would love to jump into is the sequel to Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. Instead of a fighting game, it was a beat ‘em up, starring Liu Kang and Kung Lao.

It told the story of the second Mortal Kombat game and followed the Shaolin Monks as they interacted and fought with many characters from the Mortal Kombat universe.

It is a co-op game, and besides Kung Lao and Liu Kang, other playable characters include Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Kitana. With how rich and full of potential the Mortal Kombat universe is, it’s about time we explore more of it with a sequel. 

In fact, we almost did get a sequel starring Scorpion and Sub-Zero titled Mortal Kombat: Fire and Ice. Although the game never saw the light of day, Mortal Kombat has been on a roll, and we think they could do the idea justice if they tried. 

Injustice 3

The game that most likely is being developed by NetherRealm Studios is Injustice 3. This fighting game features DC characters such as The Flash, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman fight in 1-1 battles. Apart from the gameplay, another great element of the Injustice series is its story. 

After Superman is tricked into killing his pregnant wife and blowing up Metropolis by the Joker, he kills the clown. This leads him down a dark path and he becomes dictator of the planet, other superheroes and villains soon fall in line and join him. On the other side of the spectrum is Batman. 

Batman becomes the leader of the resistance and works with unlikely allies such as Lex Luthor and Harley Quinn to oppose Superman. In the sequel, he becomes a mentor and leader for younger superheroes. 

It’s not just wishful thinking that makes Injustice 3 likely, it’s also the pattern of NetherRealm Studios. The developer releases an Injustice game after a Mortal Kombat game, so it’s one right after another.

With this pattern in mind, it seems all but confirmed that Injustice 3 is on the horizon. 

Marvel Fighting Game

This game is only rumored to be in development, so take it with a grain of salt. However, if there is any truth to it, it can’t be understated just how big it would be. Earlier this year, a rumor circulated by Daniel Richtman, stated that NetherRealm Studios was working on a Marvel fighting game. 

There’s no evidence to support this theory, but that’s not going to stop us from getting excited at the prospect of a Marvel fighting game. Marvel is no stranger to the fighting genre, with them frequently collaborating with Capcom for the Marvel vs. Capcom fighting series. 

Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite, the last game in that series, was released in 2017 to lukewarm reviews; both IGN and Polygon scored the game a 7.7/10. The game also fell short of its expected sales number, 2 million units, and instead sold 1.7 million units (as of March 31, 2021).

Although we love the Marvel Vs. Capcom series and would love to see more of it, it would be refreshing to see Marvel characters in a different type of fighting game. NetherRealm’s stories are unmatched, and they would undoubtedly do a fantastic job with the Marvel universe. 

There are many paths NetherRealm Studios can take, and the two that seem most likely are Injustice 3 and Mortal Kombat 12. Regardless of what game they make next, we know it’ll be fun. 

More in Gaming: 

1. The Best Mass Effect 3 Mods in 2021

2. Assassin's Creed Valhalla-Wrath of the Druids DLC Review

3. 5 Best Superhero Games Coming in 2021/2022

For more NetherRealm and fighting game stories, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter down below