Midway doing more Mortal Kombat

By Robert Purchese Published 26 January, 2009

Struggling publisher pleased with sales.

Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon has said he's already developing the next instalment in the fighting series.

"We're already hard at work on our next version of Mortal Kombat, and look forward to being able to reveal more details in the future," said Boon in a statement.

His comments follow the news that 1.8 million copies of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe have been shipped around the world - a milestone the struggling publisher appears well chuffed with.

"Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe was the result of countless hours of hard work by many people, and seeing the game surpass the million-seller plateau makes it worth all the effort," added a triumphant Boon.

The latest instalment also became the most pre-ordered Mortal Kombat game ever, according to the publisher, and over 3.6 million bouts have been fought across Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe launched at the beginning of December, boasting an impressive roster combining Spandex superheroes and mutant ninjas.

But despite all the fanfare the result was underwhelming, as our Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe review points out.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (25) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Retroid #1 3 years ago

    /Picard

  • anomagnus #2 3 years ago

    fuck me midway, TAKE THE HINT AND SHUT DOWN

  • DFawkes #3 3 years ago

    I'm surprised how successful MK VS DC has been, but it's never nice to see any publisher or developer go down. I'd even miss EA. A bit.

  • Thunderbolt #4 3 years ago

    I was surprised with MK Vs DC as its quite a solid fighting game. As a budget game its perfect for a bit of pick up and play.

  • RobotRocker #5 3 years ago

    Screw Mortal Kombat. A XBLA/PSN version of The Grid please.

  • insincere_dave #6 3 years ago

    Yes! More Mortal Kombat... or alternatively just die Midway!

  • Sonic_D #7 3 years ago

    MK vs DC is a good fun game to play against mates in a not too serious manner, meaning beer is a welcome game enhancer. The Joker is incredible fun to play as.

  • Rirekon #8 3 years ago

    Would the people calling for them to shutdown please shut-up and remember you're talking about people's careers here. Ok so it's not the best game in the world but damn, I can think of a fair many which are far worse.

    I for one quite enjoyed beating down on Superman, so grats on the 1.8 mil Midway! Best of the luck with your next title :-)

  • Santino #9 3 years ago

    noooooooo not another one!

    mortal kombat has to be one of the worst franchises that has ever seen some sort of success, it has ALWAYS been an awful game relying a cheap gore gimmick.

  • conners #10 3 years ago

    Sequel Shmequel.

    what about the DLC we were all promised "by Xmas 2008" for MK vs DC?

    Come on Boon - you picked the tune, now it's time to pay the piper.

  • michaelius #11 3 years ago

    Now how about non kiddy friendly serious 18+ Mortal kombat without retarded heroes from DC ?

  • Canada_JK #12 3 years ago

    some people never learn ....

    next we'll see MK v/s Smurfs

  • JJrabbit #13 3 years ago

    I don't understand the problem. The game sells a lot, but if you don't like it, don't buy it. I can understand it encourages too many sequels (Need for Speed comes to mind), but as a struggling games company, I'd hate to see it shutdown. There's a difference between this company doing it and, say, EA because EA can afford to take risks but decide to milk the cash cow.
    PS: I don't like the game :)

  • bad09 #14 3 years ago

    Drop the really tacky attempt at emulating Marvel vs Capcom (they were GAME crossovers so at least there was a point to 'em), and I might be interested in the next one Midway. TBH though, while the 3D ones were...OK, you've not really impressed me with MK since Trilogy so it would need to be something special!

  • insincere_dave #15 3 years ago

    "Would the people calling for them to shutdown please shut-up and remember you're talking about people's careers here."

    Yeah, people who're clearly not very good at making games and the industry won't miss.

  • Kami #16 3 years ago

    MK was getting fairly good with Deadly Alliance. It was sort of the same level with Deception.

    But Armageddon (link to my views on that game) and vs DC were back to the bad old days where there was nothing much in the game, where it was very pretty but had no substance to back it up.

    If they can go back to Deadly Alliance, with the intent of making a properly serious fighter, MK will come good. If they prefer to milk the cash-cow we'll see another Armageddon.

    Here's hoping they want to make a serious fighter.

  • Quint2020 #17 3 years ago

    I don't get the hate surrounding this game, I thought it was a real return to form.

  • muscleblade #18 3 years ago

    @Kami

    You got it all wrong imo. Deadly Alliance and Deception are the 2 worst games in the series. MK VS DC is more like the old games.
    UMK3 is still my favourite. I hope the next installment will be more like that game.

  • Kami #19 3 years ago

    The problem is, I didn't like the old games. Mortal Kombat was always gore over technical achievements. I guess I liked DA and Deception because they tried to work in a polished fighting game alongside the gore. I kind of admired that. Armageddon was awful because it had no balance, no character, nothing. Just a black void of blood and guts with hardly anything redeeming at all.

    MKvsDC wasn't bad per se, but it is a spin-off title. I've played better but after Armageddon MKvsDC was pure gold. Though that said, next to Armageddon a bucket of liquid poo would look like molten gold...

  • RexRunti #20 3 years ago

    It says something about your publishing company when MK vs DC is your flagship title. Still, I prefer them to Activision. But then I'd prefer EA and a pineapple suppository to Activision.

  • The_Surreal #21 3 years ago

    Did the people that write here even go to school?

  • CunningLinguist #22 3 years ago

    @The_Surreal

    Are you referring to the EG staff? The jury is still out on that one.

  • neonxaos #23 3 years ago

    I thought that MK vs DC was dead on arrival with its archaic gameplay and insanely laggy online part - but I guess not. Having said that, the franchise is still pretty cool. I wish they'd hire someone who actually knows a thing or two about fighting games to help them, though.

    I would love to see an MK vs Capcom. It would be a crazy game for sure, but man...

  • dingo75 #24 3 years ago

    next we'll see MK v/s Smurfs

    I would buy that

  • JJrabbit #25 3 years ago

    @CountFapula

    EA was just a rich publisher and was the only reason I included it in my post. Feel free to replace it with other ones. I'm not anti EA, but my point was that some people can't afford to take risks and therefore churn out sequels, where others sometimes can but choose not to.
    Edited by 2 at 27/01/09 @ 13:37