Ed Boon teases Mortal Kombat 1 story expansion and ‘big surprise’ for future DLC

Kompat Pack has kompetition.

Quan Chi entering battle in Mortal Kombat 1.
Image via NetherRealm Studios

Tis the season for teasing new content for games with a DLC roadmap, and Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon is doing just that. Not long after a new trailer dropped for Quan Chi and other upcoming additions to Mortal Kombat 1, Boon konfirmed some big news for the game’s future. 

In an interview at Comic Con Experience 2023 (CCPX23) in Brazil, Boon teased that MK1 is going to have a massive expansion at some point in the future that will add more to the game’s story mode—along with plenty of content. He compared this to MK11: Aftermath, which launched a year after the base game and included an entirely separate campaign to build on the original story and another wave of DLC characters. But it goes beyond even that. 

Omni-Man standing center frame, Mortal Kombat 1 Render
Kontent is rolling out, but NRS has big plans for the future. Image via NetherRealm Studios

“Just like we did with Mortal Kombat 11, we’re going to release a second part with more story…and we have a big surprise after that,” Boon said. “So we’re going to be supporting [MK1] for even longer than we did for Mortal Kombat 11. It’s gonna be fun.”

Ignoring that Boon essentially teased something huge coming after confirming an expansion for MK1, saying that NetherRealm Studios is going to support its new title for longer than MK11 is a big drop too. NRS typically releases a game and supports it with updates and DLC content for roughly two years before shifting fully to its next project—so MK1 might be supported through 2026 and feature more DLC than most of the studio’s previous entries. 

MK1’s second DLC character from its first Kombat Pack, Omni-Man from Invincible, dropped on Nov. 9 and we just got our first full trailer for Quan Chi, who releases on Dec. 14 for Kompat Pack purchasers. We also got our first look at John Cena’s Peacemaker in-game, with a confirmed release window for February 2024. That only leaves details for Ermac, Takeda, Homelander, and some Kameo Fighters on the board for the first wave of DLC which should be completed well before MK1’s first anniversary at this rate. 

If what Boon is teasing has a similar timeframe to MK11’s development, we could see the story expansion for MK1 drop as soon as September or October 2024. That would likely also include the announcement of more DLC characters and Kameo Fighters for the next 12 months too—leaving room for that “big surprise” to be another big Kombat Pack or something fresh for the franchise. 

Regardless of when and what we see with MK1’s future content, the base game’s story left a gaping hole to expand upon with a lot of potential for more fun moments. Just don’t expect to hear too much about it until next summer knowing Boon and his team.

Author

Cale Michael
Lead Staff Writer for Dota 2, the FGC, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and more who has been writing for Dot Esports since 2018. Graduated with a degree in Journalism from Oklahoma Christian University and also previously covered the NBA. You can usually find him writing, reading, or watching an FGC tournament.