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 on 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 guest character Conan the Barbarian.

Boon shared a short video showcasing one of the T-1000's Fatalities, a thrilling recreation of the iconic truck chase scene from Terminator 2. The accompanying tweet, however, sparked considerable excitement 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 speculation about additional DLC characters beyond the current Khaos Reigns expansion, which includes the T-1000, Cyrax, Sektor, Noob Saibot, Ghostface, and Conan the Barbarian. Fans have long anticipated a potential third DLC character pack or "Kombat Pack 3," particularly given questions surrounding the game's sales performance.

Warner Bros. Discovery, however, has reaffirmed its commitment to the Mortal Kombat franchise. CEO David Zaslav stated in November that the company intends to focus heavily on just four game titles, with Mortal Kombat being one of them. Adding to the anticipation, Boon himself confirmed in September that NetherRealm had already decided on its next game three years prior, while pledging continued support for Mortal Kombat 1 "for a long time to come."

Many fans predict NetherRealm's next project will be a third installment in the DC fighting game franchise, Injustice. While unconfirmed by NetherRealm or Warner Bros., this speculation is fueled by the success of Injustice: Gods Among Us (2013) and Injustice 2 (2017). NetherRealm's decision to release Mortal Kombat 11 in 2019 and then Mortal Kombat 1 in 2023, rather than alternating between the two franchises, has been a subject of discussion.

In a June 2023 interview with IGN, Boon vaguely addressed this decision, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition to a newer version of the Unreal game engine (Unreal Engine 4 for Mortal Kombat 1, compared to Unreal Engine 3 for Mortal Kombat 11) as contributing factors. He explicitly stated that the door remains open for future Injustice games.