It seems that content for Mortal Kombat 11 is finally at an end. After over two years, Mortal Kombat 11 has announced that there will be no additional DLC packs.
NetherRealm Studios' long-running hyperviolent fighting series marks its 30th anniversary next year. The latest franchise entry, Mortal Kombat 11, received more post-launch content than any Mortal Kombat title before it, including the robust Aftermath DLC campaign expansion and a host of additional classic and crossover characters. The last major batch of DLC for the game came in the form of Kombat Pack 2 in October 2020, which included Rambo, Rain, and Mileena.
Posted to the official Mortal Kombat Twitter this morning, the message spells a clear and definitive end to additional content, rather than series co-creator Ed Boon trolling or teasing fans about potential new DLC, as he is well-known for. The tweet confirms that all DLC, including characters, "has come to an end." This debunks the rumors that a Mortal Kombat 11 Kombat Pack 3 had leaked on the PlayStation Store late last year, to the disappointment of many on the same Twitter thread. Fan reaction online has been mostly negative, with fans expressing contempt for not being notified months earlier. However, others have taken the announcement as a chance to thank NetherRealm for all the content it did put out.
The announcement also puts the final nail in the coffin for the heavily rumored DLC character Ash. The Evil Dead protagonist was supposedly planned to be included as one of MK 11's crossover kombatants, but for reasons unknown, was never added into the game. Evidence of Ash joining the Mortal Kombat 11 roster first appeared in April 2019, the month the game launched, when dataminers found scripted dialogue between the character and then yet-to-be announced DLC characters such as Spawn and Joker. A few months later Ed Boon, in a podcast interview, said he wished he could comment, potentially hinting at licensing complications or something similar as to why Ash never appeared.
The Mortal Kombat 11 tweet also reveals NetherRealm Studios to be "focusing on its next project." While the video game developer has yet to divulge any information as to what that next project could be, there are plenty of rumors circling online that its developing a new Marvel fighting game. Boon had confirmed in a 2019 interview with Game Informer that discussions with Marvel had happened, but stopped short of saying anything else. More recently, Boon retweeted director James Gunn, helmsman of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy films and DC's The Suicide Squad. Boon tweeted how he's impressed by working on "DC and MARVEL movies," alluding to working with both companies himself.
While the declaration of Mortal Kombat 11 DLC being finished, fans can officially look towards what the developer releases next. While a new MK title surely won't be out for years to come, fans can always imagine their own DLC characters, like a mashup of Barack Obama and Baraka - Baracka Obama, if you will.
Mortal Kombat 11 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.