6 March 2009
Josh

Mortal Kombat 9 release date set for Q4 2009, says Midway

Midway has announced that they are giving Mortal Kombat and MK co-creator Ed Boon another chance as they slate Mortal Kombat 9 for a fourth-quarter 2009 release date.

Why would that be? Because it seems Midway may have finally realized what everyone else already knows, Midway is a goner without the MK franchise.

They announced that Ed Boon will be pocketing up to $900,000 for his work on the completion and sales of Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe (which were good at around a million units but under expectations) and will be getting a further $105,000 in bonuses for the Mortal Kombat franchise itself (which comes from the sale of older MK games like Mortal Kombat 2 on PlayStation Network, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 on Xbox Live Arcade, the MK movies and such).

This is interesting because Midway does not have money to spend, but they say that the bonuses and payments given to Boon are “critical to maximize the value of one of the Debtor’s (i.e. Ed Boon) primary assets.”

This is good news for Midway and MK fans in general, now hopefully their next game will be better received than MK vs DC Universe was.

And I’m STILL waiting for Midway to announce the release of Mortal Kombat 1, Mortal Kombat 2, Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Mortal Kombat 4 on ALL downloading fronts (Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and WiiWare). Come on Midway! GET ON IT! Not only is that instant cash right there but I’d buy all of those without giving a second thought. LEVERAGE YOUR CLASSIC BACK CATALOG ALREADY!

Jeez. I should be managing Midway myself . . .

UPDATE June 2009: MK creator Ed Boon’s Twitter page sees him mention motion capture work is underway for Mortal Kombat 9! To quote his personal stream of thoughts:

Ed Boon (@noobde): Motion capturing special moves & fatalities today….they are kind of sick !!

Ed Boon: Carlos & Rick O. doin some kool fatalities. I hope we aren’t taking these too far.

MK Fan (@McCarron): @noobde If you are not sure if you are taking them too far, that means you can go further.

Ed Boon: @McCarron U r absolutely right. People want an M-rated MK….dammit we will give them an M-rated MK.

Ed Boon: still…they are sick.

Update Attendum: The original article references Midway’s “Key Employee Incentive Plan” from earlier this year. Turns out a court committee edited or outright declined this proposed plan later on, explaining why Ed Boon claimed this intel to be false via Twitter (thanks André Lopes). That or he never heard about it with Midway’s plans getting cancelled. As for the release date, let’s hope that estimate isn’t false, I want a new Mortal Kombat game this year as much as the next fan!

UPDATE August 2009: A Warner Bros. Games Inc. Chicago job listing shows Mortal Kombat 9 will focus on online play! The job description reads:
“WB Games Inc. seeks a Senior Software Engineer, Network to help us implement cutting-edge online features to ensure the Mortal Kombat franchise is an industry leader in online functionality. We are looking to position Mortal Kombat as the “gold standard” for network play, and we are looking for someone who wants to push the boundaries of what is possible with online interaction.

You will work closely with architects and designers on both the Mortal Kombat team and the advanced technology group to help design and implement functionality ranging from the core network transport layer all the way to owning the final implementation of brand-new features that will revolutionize online play.

The job opening can be viewed in it’s entirety here at TimeWarner.com’s job page for those interesting in applying to join the team. We can’t wait to see what the team has up their sleeves as far as these “revolutionary features” go. The dynamic interactivity of playing at the arcade has not yet been duplicated properly in an console fighting game yet.”

29 June 2009 01:45
bigMKfan!!!

hey 1 more idea: quan chi wuld be awesome with black tatos instead of red and with a cowl - like haviks alternate costume.

29 June 2009 11:16
Meathook49

Ed Boon, on Twitter, says this article got every fact wrong, and is an example of bad journalism. This article should be erased.

29 June 2009 12:51
Ferry

Meathook49: Next time try reading the whole article before making a smartarse rude comment like that. It clearly states Boon’s response and Midway’s plans are two different sides to the same coin in the “Update Attendum” part.

1 July 2009 02:51
bigMKfan!!!

there could pe people standing around some of the arenas so you wuld be able to grab them as a weapon or rip his head of and throw it into oponent as an extra massive powerd projektile.
it wuld be kool to have a shark death trap or even to burry oponent alive! and animalities wuld be awesome too!
make much blood and gore
mk awesome!

1 July 2009 23:49
Someone

The article’s cool… but is the release date real ? i mean we can really expect the game (MK9) to come out in q4 2009 ??

6 July 2009 01:07
Noob Saibot.

Ed Boon has said himself MK 9 is already a year off. So I’ll expect it around August 2010 a trailer will be out around Christmas this year. Or early next year.

10 July 2009 05:02
AWalker

I think Mk9 Should Be Like Deception.But with More Characters and new story line. keep the sick, gory and awsome fatalities though!!
Sub zero And Scorpion Should Always have a main roll in the game though.
Put in Some More kool Fighters Like Reptile and Ermac.
Ermacs My Fav And always will be!

Cya Hope To Hear More From This Killer Game!!!

10 July 2009 07:02
Alex

Yeah it would be really nice to see a return of animalities, those were immense, especially next gen and all

19 July 2009 18:29
RaikiriBLAZE

How about lets take out all the boring filler characters that have just been wasting space over the years (Daegon, Taven, Havik, Kobra, Kira, Nitara, all those stupid 3d characters that look the same and have the same fireball moves). Id say the original cast from the MK1-MKT, maybe some 3d characters, lots of old music remixed, old levels remixed, and most importantly 3D ON 2D LIKE SFIV! It would be perfect. Keep the great gameplay from the old ones and the cool moves and fatalities not possible on 2d from the newer ones. We know how much 3D gameplay sucks, and MKvDC is a good mid-way (no pun) transition to 3D on 2D.

It’d also be cool to have the portable versions with sprites but that is a lot of work, maybe they could be released later after the console versions.

A last note some cool features would be a way more customizable character creator (like being able to choose from a good selection of faces and changing lots of facial structure), a real create a fatality where its an actual mode where you select animations and give it to created and real characters. A replay system where you record fights, change camera angles, add sounds and effects, and upload it to your hard drive. ITS SO EASY TO THINK OF GOOD FEATURES, YOU GUYS KNOW HOW TO MAKE A GAME, SO JUST MAKE IT. YOUR COMPANY IS ON THE LINE!!!

22 July 2009 11:58
cameron

i think that they should include new storylines and brand new characters. also bring back the fatalities and include new realms in konquest mode. cant wait for trailer