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.”
Update December 2009: MK fansites are now claiming a December 2010 release date for the still tentatively titled Mortal Kombat 9. *fingers crossed*