Ed Boon Interview With Gamespot About the Future of MK11: "One Year Later, Mortal Kombat 11 Is Just Getting Started"

-Wants to support the game for long time.
-Would love to have Kustom Variations in Competitive.
-Already working on their next project.

Taking cues from its predecessors--Mortal Kombat X and the DC Comics fighting game Injustice 2--MK11 is an evolving game, and the game we have now isn't the game we had at launch. Celebrating its first year anniversary this month, MK11 shows that the series is firing on all cylinders with its competitive tournament scene and a suite of updates. These have improved current characters and introduced new ones, including the most recent guest appearance, '90s comics icon Spawn.

While MK has had a reputation for sticking close to its gimmick of cartoon violence, MK11 features the most refined combat and in-depth customization to date, proving there's much more going on under the hood than some people think. Furthermore, it doesn't get enough credit for also being a highly approachable fighting game, giving newcomers plenty of tools and training options to ease into the mechanics. Mortal Kombat 11 is the most content-rich MK game to date, and it's fun to log back in after some extended time away to see what's new in the Towers of Time or how the latest additions like The Terminator or Nightwolf fit in.Shortly after the Final Kombat tournament in March, which shifted focus into an online-only event following the continued spread of COVID-19, we had the chance to talk with Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon, along with president of Image Comics and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane about MK11. In addition to taking a look back at the release of the game, Boon expressed enthusiasm for MK11's future, which NetherRealm Studios will still be supporting for some time.

"Since we had that big reveal event over a year ago, I was pretty clear in trying to communicate that we plan on supporting Mortal Kombat 11 as we did with our previous games," said Boon. "With MKX and Injustice 2, our previous sequels, we supported them further than just the first set of characters and updates. So there's nothing that we are ready to announce or anything like that, but we are not absolutely done with Mortal Kombat 11."

Mortal Kombat 11 is the third game of the reboot era of the series, which began with the 2011 game. As a sequel and reboot, MK (2011) leveraged much of the familiar iconography and characters from the original trilogy to set the stage for a new story. The follow-up Mortal Kombat X continued with the rebooted storyline, introducing unique characters like D'Vorah and Cassie Cage, and while also giving more time for returning MK4 big bad Shinnok to leave his mark. MK11 was a further continuation of that story. Still, with its focus on time-travel, it played more with the element of nostalgia--pitting past and present versions of classic characters like Johnny Cage, Sonia, Jax, Scorpion, and Kano against one another, which effectively canonized mirror matches.

In that regard, it's the most self-aware MK game to date, which is no small feat considering the series' penchant for morbid, fourth-wall-breaking humor. MK11 even has some satisfying callbacks to the 1995 live-action film, with actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa reprising his role as the antagonist Shang Tsung. First appearing in the MK11's re-interpretation of the long-running bonus mode the Krypt, he would eventually be the first guest character in the Kombat Pack. The last character of the current Kombat Pack was Spawn, marking the demonic superhero's first appearance in a video game since 2003's Spawn: Armageddon. The creator of Spawn, Todd McFarlane, collaborated with NetherRealm, and he enjoyed seeing the union of "two '90s icons."

"I thought they did a hell of a job [with recreating Spawn]," said the head of Image Comics. "Really, my only early criticisms were, 'Come on, you got to get crazier. You've got to crank things up in your game. Get crazier, get crazier.' They finally went just hog wild on it at some point, and the more they did that, the bigger the smile on my face was. Because I have to see it all and approve everything, so they would show me a lot [the game]. At some point they were just in a groove, I wish I had put some of the stuff they came up with in my comic book."

With a current roster of 30 characters, MK11 has a healthy mix of fighters from the classic and modern eras of the series, along with the set of guest appearances. Though what makes MK 11 stand out from previous games is the level of customization with each fighter, allowing you to mold well-established fighters to match your playstyle. This freeform variation system is a rarity in fighting games, which often utilize a closed system of mechanics with each character's moves set in stone, and it results in some exciting ways to reshape some of your long-time favorites. Even now, it can be surprising to see how people can utilize well-known characters in inventive ways.

However, this is an area that Boon still wishes to see improvement. While regular online matches allow you to use your custom loadouts, ranked matches require the use of the preset and competitive friendly variations, which lack certain moves that high-level players tend to favor. With the end of the current season of WB Games' MK11 tournament, which saw reigning champion SonicFox defeat NinjaKilla, Boon spent time reflecting on the current state of MK11's competitive scene.

"I can't promise anything, but what I would love to see in the future of Mortal Kombat 11 is allowing players to use created variations in tournament gameplay and stuff like that," said Boon. "That's something that so far we've kind of built a wall between the competitive stuff; it's like okay, you got to use the variations that we made, and we've launched with two, and then we followed up with the third one for every character. We're happy with how that is right now, but to me, the dream situation would be for us to allow players to create their own and mix things up. So that to me would be the next step if we're able to pull it off. I certainly can't promise anything, but it's something I would love for us to be able to do."

Mortal Kombat 11 continues to have an active community of players online and on message forums discussing the current meta of the roster--including the best ways to take down the time-bending golem Geras, who remains to be one of the most game-changing characters the franchise has seen in years. Much like Mortal Kombat X and Injustice 2, Mortal Kombat 11 will continue to grow even further with more new characters and changes to the current list with the upcoming season. However, Boon did stress that the developer's next project is already in the wings.

"It's hard to tell the timing because we don't have a launch date that we've picked for our next game, and there are so many factors involved with the transition to the next consoles, et cetera," said Boon. "There's a lot of moving parts right now, so it's hard to say something like, 'Oh yeah, when the next game is out, we will be doing season four of Mortal Kombat 11.' But I can say that at this moment, we plan on continuing to support MK11 for some time, and we're looking forward to seeing it grow."

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/one-year-later-mortal-kombat-11-is-just-getting-st/1100-6476479/

 

Thank you. We've been saying some of these things for months, but people always want to assume the worst/that no one cares to support the game.

Now it's out there in print. So everybody can focus on generating more constructive feedback. Let's go!

 

well then, good to know, but, the question still stands : where's KP 2 news ? hehe

 

I don't know if I'm more excited for Injustice 3 or MK12

 

I'm curious to see if we'll get any big system changes. I know people really want characters to have a breakaway breaker like Spawn's, but somehow I really don't to see something like that on say, Geras or Liu Kang. Even though I like the mechanic itself.

I just hope that whatever we get in terms of content won't be a rushed mess due to also having to work on their next game

 

I’m gonna be honest, he said a whole lot of nothing lol

 

I’m gonna be honest, he said a whole lot of nothing lol

Pretty much. It's the things we been knew for quite some time now. But i guess it's better than their usual silence.

 

Pretty much. It's the things we been knew for quite some time now. But i guess it's better than their usual silence.

Until they say "x thing is coming out on y date" I don't really pay attention anymore. Still a bad taste in my mouth from what was said about variations and even the krypt before launch. I am hopeful though that there is still a lot more to come.

 

Let me preface this w/ the statement that I do believe they will keep adding content (and i love the game, i just hate NRS's abysmal communication), but I'm not sure how this is new or promising. This is a puff piece at best (with month old info about spawn and final kombat) and on the day after NRS failed to give us any info on an absolutely free PR day in their anniversary. If anything this is a damage control article.

Anyways, onto the article itself. He's quoting the same "longest support" stuff we've heard since day one, while also peppering every other line with "I can't promise" or "nothing to announce yet." Specifically, the wording of "but we are not absolutely done with Mortal Kombat 11" is pretty damning. There's a massive difference in meaning between "we are absolutely not done" which would imply an emphatic belief that there is plenty more to come and "we are not absolutely done" (what Boon actually said) which is a far more guarded answer that implies they aren't completely finished yet; It sounds more like someone saying they have a little bit left in the tank when staring down a quitting point. I think it's safe to say Boon chooses his words carefully (as evidenced by all his "can't promise" statements, his enjoyment of cryptic tweets, etc) so i wouldn't chalk that order up to just an interpretation/semantics error. Finally, while it's no surprise they are working on their next project, the fact that he brings it up candidly and according to the article stresses the fact that they are already working on the next project seems pretty worrying to me. Why pump up a future title that is supposedly years away because MK is going to be so actively supported, especially when they can't even tell us stuff 1 month in advance on their active product.

If anything this article has lowered my confidence in the updates we'll get in the future.

 

I read this, and feel like I’ve been date-raped.

 

Pretty much. It's the things we been knew for quite some time now. But i guess it's better than their usual silence.

And really, him saying “We’re not absolutely done with MK11” reads more like, “We’re done with MK11 outside of the 3 or so DLC you guys already know about.”

You can tell that the focus has been pushed to next-gen, which shouldn’t really surprise anyone.

 

starting with sheeva all mk11 characters will have 4 arms at a minimum, this is a new direction going forward and will carry on into injustice 3

 

Let me preface this w/ the statement that I do believe they will keep adding content (and i love the game, i just hate NRS's abysmal communication), but I'm not sure how this is new or promising. This is a puff piece at best (with month old info about spawn and final kombat) and on the day after NRS failed to give us any info on an absolutely free PR day in their anniversary. If anything this is a damage control article.

Anyways, onto the article itself. He's quoting the same "longest support" stuff we've heard since day one, while also peppering every other line with "I can't promise" or "nothing to announce yet." Specifically, the wording of "but we are not absolutely done with Mortal Kombat 11" is pretty damning. There's a massive difference in meaning between "we are absolutely not done" which would imply an emphatic belief that there is plenty more to come and "we are not absolutely done" (what Boon actually said) which is a far more guarded answer that implies they aren't completely finished yet; It sounds more like someone saying they have a little bit left in the tank when staring down a quitting point. I think it's safe to say Boon chooses his words carefully (as evidenced by all his "can't promise" statements, his enjoyment of cryptic tweets, etc) so i wouldn't chalk that order up to just an interpretation/semantics error. Finally, while it's no surprise they are working on their next project, the fact that he brings it up candidly and according to the article stresses the fact that they are already working on the next project seems pretty worrying to me. Why pump up a future title that is supposedly years away because MK is going to be so actively supported, especially when they can't even tell us stuff 1 month in advance on their active product.

If anything this article has lowered my confidence in the updates we'll get in the future.

And really, him saying “We’re not absolutely done with MK11” reads more like, “We’re done with MK11 outside of the 3 or so DLC you guys already know about.”

You can tell that the focus has been pushed to next-gen, which shouldn’t really surprise anyone.

oh yeah, fuck yeah ! these "sweet little lies" don't work anymore, and so, it's pretty obvious , at this point, we will receive only KP2 , and after that , that's it , the real end of MK11 content..... this long term support small talk is just a red herring bullshit that NRS is trying poorly to convice us since the game came out, but will not fucking happen ....

so, they will release KP2 , with 5 or 6 characters , to be released between 2020 until beggining of 2021, and after that, you can kiss goodbye to MK11 support or any new stuff related to it .... so , next generation console come up , new NRS game coming .... that's the very realistic scenario ...... prepare for that and keep expectations low, and , avoid to fall for these NRS crap false promises once again, hehe

 

Boon saying the word "season" has me excited

 

Amazing how people seem to be translating a 'game is not dead' statement into 'game is dead'.

 

Not trying to be nit-picky, but why is MK11 just "just getting started"? What about the past entire year?

 

Not trying to be nit-picky, but why is MK11 just "just getting started"? What about the past entire year?

If there are indeed 2 more Kombat Packs incoming - which means support and content for two more years plus balance patches and maybe gameplay changes - then yeah, MK11 is just getting started.
---------------------------------------------------
Now, here's my criticism with the game.

It concerns something I do not personally use, but nevertheless acknowledge as a weird move on NRS' part: Custom variations in tournament play.

I just cannot understand why is NRS is so hesitant and slow to react on this topic.

Why is NRS so slow to move forward with this and takes such a sloth-y approach? I mean, wouldn't it be better to just allow custom variations, hold a tournament, see what's broken by observing the top players abuse broken custom variations and fix the individual moves (or combinations of special moves), instead of trying out a couple of moves, make one new tournament variation then leave them as is until the next season? If someone finds a broken custom variation for Geras, they collect the data from the tournament and they fix it by nerfing the broken moves accordingly. We shouldn't have to wait an entire freaking year in order to nerf a broken Jacqui move.

Or am I seeing this completely wrong?

But I can say that at this moment, we plan on continuing to support MK11 for some time, and we're looking forward to seeing it grow.

That definitely reads as, "No, we're not stopping with just Ash, Sheeva and Fujin."

 

My fear is that yeah they'll continue supporting the game, but that doesn't mean we will get MORE content and MORE balance changes/updates, just that that stuff will be spread out over a longer period of time. Basically drip fed like the Krypt stuff. I also think Boon could be referring to KL prizes more so than a third kombat pack. And I think the wait for any updates will be compounded by corona virus, which i understand, but i worry even kombat pack 2 won't be completely out till well into 2021. Even without the virus i could see it taking that long.

 

My fear is that yeah they'll continue supporting the game, but that doesn't mean we will get MORE content and MORE balance changes/updates, just that that stuff will be spread out over a longer period of time. Basically drip fed like the Krypt stuff. I also think Boon could be referring to KL prizes more so than a third kombat pack. And I think the wait for any updates will be compounded by corona virus, which i understand, but i worry even kombat pack 2 won't be completely out till well into 2021. Even without the virus i could see it taking that long.

Boon has stated that development has been continuing from home - and said "so far so good". So the game's being worked on.

Again, people mistakenly believe that it's up to Boon to announce things. It isn't. WB decides what is going to be announced and when. NRS is silent because they're being told to be silent. We've seen this back in the impending KP1 reveal, where NRS basically said their hands are tied where announcements are concerned.

This interview is supposed to assure you and let you know that things are on the way. That should be enough for now. Frankly, the fact that we have a fourth character datamined (ROB) places the fears that KP2 is only going to be Fujin, Ash and Sheeva to bed. KP2 isn't going to be 3 characters. The game isn't dying (much to the disappointment of the naysayers). We're still going strong.

 

The whole marketing campaing for MK11 was handled by WB and we all saw it was a disaster. NRS just did their job. It was funny as hell seeing them trying to show "new characters!" while everything had been leaked on major websites and social media. They should've told WB to fuck themselves and take matters into their own hands! But I know that's unlikely lmao do not take me seriously

 

Really sick Boon himself is wanting customs to be legal. You could tell that was their intention from the jump, hopefully it can finally be a thing now

 

Hmmm a year ago I was under the impression MK11 is planned to get a long-term support of at least 3-4 years, after reading this interview and knowing how Ed loves being careful with his words, sounds like we have KP2 left and maybe that's it.. unless they are going to add characters in a different fashion,

Anyway yeah, a whole lotta nothing but at least we got some sort of acknowledgment.

 

Thank you. We've been saying some of these things for months, but people always want to assume the worst/that no one cares to support the game.

Now it's out there in print. So everybody can focus on generating more constructive feedback. Let's go!

No

 

Just getting started? Is that why things are so damn slow? Well at least we can finally drop this game and start playing injustice 3

 

I’m gonna be honest, he said a whole lot of nothing lol

Crimson shadow thinks he just preached a part of the Bible or something