[STEAM] Mortal Kombat Mobile Game to Shut Down a Year After Launch as Developer NetherRealm Suffers Layoffs

[Steam 0]

Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm has suffered a significant round of layoffs and has signaled the closure of one of its high-profile mobile games.

As spotted by users on

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, NetherRealm developers took to LinkedIn to announce they had been ***** off as part of what looks like the gutting of the company’s mobile team.

One affected member of staff said NetherRealm’s entire mobile team was shut down. This team operated live services on multiple titles, including

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,

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, and

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.

The X/

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page for Mortal Kombat: Onslaught announced plans to shut the game down in October 2024, just a year after launch. “It has been an honor creating this game for our Kommunity, and we appreciate the enthusiasm from our fans,” the statement read. “In the coming weeks we will share specific timing of the close of the game.”

We are sorry to inform you that Mortal Kombat: Onslaught will close its operations in October. It has been an honor creating this game for our Kommunity, and we appreciate the enthusiasm from our fans. In the coming weeks we will share specific timing of the close of the game.

— Mortal Kombat: Onslaught (@mkonslaught)

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At the time of this article’s publication, there is no shutdown announcement on either the Mortal Kombat Mobile or Injustice 2 Mobile X/

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pages. Both games received updates in recent days; indeed these layoffs occured just a day after Mortal Kombat Mobile received a significant update that added guest character Spawn to the game. Spawn is meant to be the first of three new characters coming to Mortal Kombat Mobile as part of its summer update, with Onslaught Jax and MK1 Kenshi next.

Spawn marks his entry in

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! The first in line of our three new kombatants coming in the Summer Update! Keep your eyes peeled - Onslaught Jax and MK1 Kenshi are next. Jump in and explore the new Tower, Equipment, and more!

Official Patch Notes:

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— Mortal Kombat Mobile (@MKMobileGame)

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NetherRealm and Mortal Kombat franchise owner Warner Bros. Games billed Mortal Kombat: Onslaught as a mobile-exclusive collection role-playing game set in the Mortal Kombat universe. The free-to-download app features party-based combat that plays out automatically, with the player tapping to trigger special abilities and combos. There’s a fleshed out Story Mode that revolves around Shinnok’s bid for destruction. Mortal Kombat veterans Liu Kang, Kung Lao, and Sub-Zero go up against familiar villains such as Shang Tsung, Kano, and Shao Kahn in their Mortal Kombat 11 visual style.

The layoffs hit NetherRealm as it prepares to reveal plans for

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during a panel at San Diego Comic-****. NetherRealm development chief Ed Boon is yet to tweet about the layoffs or the game closure.

The cuts to NetherRealm come amid one of the toughest periods for the video game industry in recent memory. Thousands have lost their jobs over the last two years as publishers and developers struggle in an increasingly difficult market.

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1,900 jobs would be lost from its gaming business this year,

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, and many other AAA publishers have suffered cuts of their own.

Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on

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at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld.

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