So, after a decent amount of speculation and back and forth about the name, Mortal Kombat 1 is officially a thing! Before we get into the juicy details related to rumors and leaks about the game, let's review what we actual know for a fact. As you can see in the trailer, the game is going heavy on the gore and viscera. It will be available on Sept. 19 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. It will have a story mode that takes place in the New Era timeline created by Liu Kang after he attained godhood in Mortal Kombat 11. The online multiplayer will launch with rollback netcode. The starting roster will be Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Johnny Cage, Kung Lao, Kitana, and Mileena; Shang Tsung is a pre-order bonus.

Now, let's jump into the rumors! According to SonicFox, it's an assist-based fighter, which would be a fairly significant deviation from the norm for the series. Whether these fighters will be simple assists you call in to help or are full playable secondaries like it is a full 2 vs. 2 fighting game has been murky. The FAQ does mention something they refer to as "Kameo Fighters." These characters are described as being "a unique roster of partner characters to assist during matches, creating expanded gameplay possibilities for players. These characters are chosen separately from the main roster of fighters." Additionally, a now deleted Amazon Italy listing for the game possibly leaked the first batch of DLC characters for the game. Those DLC characters SUPOSEDLY include Peacemaker, Homelander, Omni-Man, Ermac, Takeda, and Quan Chi. The listing then mentions five Kameo Fighters and they are: Tremor, Johnny Cage , Khameleon, Mavado, and Ferra. The listing also include a mention of Jean Claude Van Damme skin.

If there's one thing I know from experience it is that Ed Boon loves to spread rumors and revel in the chaos they create. So, until we learn more I'm inclined to just throw my hands in the air and let the game hit me when it finally releases in September.

MK and assist, huh? I thought the trailer was sorta goofy in a non-typical MK way, but now I'm paying attention.

The trailer was very good. If the game does come out in September and not get delayed until next year, then 2023 is looking like a great year for fighting games.

I do hope they do something more interesting than reimagine the first game again and make Shang Tsung a pre order bonus.

I love where the series has gone but maaaaan am I unimpressed by the gory fatalities. Hope they didn’t traumatize too many animators again, and I really hope there’s a way to toggle a quick animation if currency reqards are tied to using them.

I think quick animations for fatalities are a given. Ed Boon and the team at NetherRealm Studios have always been cognizant of the FGC and the fact that their games do relatively wheel in the tournament scene and that community outside of the big tentpole events prefer to have fatalities sped up.

As a Vinny-type, I've gotta clarify: does "assist fighter" mean something like the MvC or Tekken Tag games, where certain combos call in your partner fighter?

In any case, I like to dabble in online MK early on, but for me the allure is the story mode followed by Youtube videos of the true elder gods throwing down. So long as they continue to find compelling excuses for me to sample every character through a bonkers American-style shonen, I'm in.

Just because I can, I'll say that I felt they went way off the rails with both Injustice 2 and MKX, so I can't assume this will be an excellent roller coaster just because MK9 and MK11 were. But...I gotta believe!® - Parappa

Ed Boon has been quintessential Ed Boon in liking and Retweeting people with different competing theories on what the assist characters will do. Until we see more footage of the game in action, I'd say it's still unknown.

The trailer was gross

I'm genuinely, pleasantly surprised that they're following up on "the world as created by Liu Kang" story thread. Here's to hoping fatalities go back to over-the-top fun and less "causing devs PTSD and coming off more like a Saw movie's edgelord little brother."

@undeadpool: I think MK2 had just about the perfect tone for fatalities. Some were a little gross, many were very goofy, and they were all quick. In addition to the new fatalities just being ridiculously over the top they take a long time. But they reward currency so you've incentivized to do them over and over. The ideal length for a fatality is like 1 to 5 seconds, with most being about 3.

Also is this the right thread to say that I think the name is DUMB? I get that it's a reboot and it's fine if you don't want to call it MK 12 but just give it a subtitle (which MK did for a long time.) We already have TWO GAMES called Mortal Kombat and now we're getting a Mortal Kombat 1?

@bigsocrates: Between this and Lords of the Fallen 2, renamed Lords of the Fallen, it's a banner year for fucking confusing sequel names.