Mortal Kombat 1 Dev Chief Ed Boon Teases T-1000 Fatality and ‘Future DLC’

Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat 1’s development chief, recently offered a sneak peek at the T-1000 Terminator’s upcoming Fatality via social media, simultaneously teasing future DLC. This reveal coincided with the announcement that Mortal Kombat 1 has surpassed five million copies sold, a significant jump from the previously reported four million, following the release of the Conan the Barbarian guest character.

Boon shared a short video showcasing one of the T-1000’s Fatalities, a thrilling homage to the iconic Terminator 2 chase scene featuring the same truck. The accompanying tweet, however, ignited much 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 phrasing has fueled hopes for additional DLC characters beyond the current Khaos Reigns expansion, which includes Cyrax, Sektor, Noob Saibot, Ghostface, Conan the Barbarian, and the soon-to-be-released T-1000. The question of a potential Kombat Pack 3 or a third wave of DLC characters has been a topic of much fan discussion, particularly given Mortal Kombat 1’s sales success.

Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company, has reaffirmed its confidence in the Mortal Kombat franchise, stating its intention to double down on only four key titles, with Mortal Kombat being one of them. Ed Boon himself previously confirmed that NetherRealm had decided on its next game three years prior, while pledging continued support for Mortal Kombat 1 “for a long time to come.”

Many anticipate NetherRealm’s next project to be a third installment in the DC fighting game franchise, Injustice. While unconfirmed, this is widely speculated, given the history of alternating Mortal Kombat and Injustice releases. However, the release of Mortal Kombat 1 in 2023, following Mortal Kombat 11 in 2019, broke this pattern. Factors contributing to this decision, according to Boon, include the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition to a newer version of the Unreal game engine (Unreal Engine 4 for Mortal Kombat 1, compared to Unreal Engine 3 for Mortal Kombat 11). Boon has explicitly stated that the Injustice franchise remains a possibility.