Mortal Kombat 1 Interview: NetherRealm Talks Decision to Reboot and New Game Engine

By Logan Moore - June 15, 2023 05:36 pm EDT

Mortal Kombat is poised to finally return later this fall in the form of Mortal Kombat 1. Rather than continuing after the events of Mortal Kombat 11, MK1 will reset the franchise's expansive universe in a new manner. While returning fighters will once again be present in Mortal Kombat 1, the choice to fully reboot the can 30-year canon of the series is something that has never been done before and represents a massive change.

During its showing at Summer Game Fest, we were able to chat with Derek Kirtzic, who is the Lead Systems Designer at NetherRealm on Mortal Kombat 1. Over the course of our discussion we spoke to Kirtzic about NetherRealm's decision to reboot Mortal Kombat, the new mechanical additions, and the fighters that will be announced in the coming months for the MK1 roster.

Returning to Mortal Kombat Over Injustice

ComicBook: I think my first question for you is just, why Mortal Kombat 1? NetherRealm has obviously been in this back-and-forth pattern for the past decade or so at this point between Injustice and Mortal Kombat. I think a lot of people were wondering what the next game was going to be. So why come back to Mortal Kombat once again after MK11 rather than do something else?

Derek Kirtzic: I think we really wanted to get started on the story. After MK11 and Liu Kang being established as the new god and protector of Earthrealm, it was really exciting for us to get into that story and start to explore it. And also with us coming and building it on a new engine, we wanted to make sure that we showed something that looked absolutely gorgeous. And Mortal Kombat really is what we are the best at, right? We love making this game, and so if we're going to just make that step up to next-gen and whatnot, we wanted to continue the story that we had just been telling.

CB: When you guys were making the Aftermath expansion for Mortal Kombat 11, how quickly did you know that this DLC was going to flow directly into MK1?

DK: It was pretty quick, it was pretty quick. It was almost like one of those things, the idea's still hot, let's start to explore it. You know what I mean? And from there it was, "Let's get to work."

Reshaping Established Relationships

CB: Mortal Kombat has been around for 30 years now so there's a ton of lore and ton of stuff you guys can play around with in the context of a reboot. When you came into Mortal Kombat 1 knowing you were going to reboot this series, what were the big pillar things that you knew you wanted to change up?

DK: It's telling this story, this universe of characters, but from the perspective of Liu Kang. How would he create the realms? How would he create all these different iconic characters? How is he going to rewrite the lore from his perspective? And what's really exciting is those relationships. Now Scorpion and Sub-Zero are brothers, and not like rival enemies, right? Or the fire versus ice sort of thing. Now they're together. It's the same with Katana and Mileena, them being sisters instead of Mileena being something that was created by Shang's lab and the Flesh Pits.

It allows us to give fresh starts to some of the older characters you haven't seen that we're going to be bringing back. That you're going to be like, "Oh!" And then you go, "Huh?" And then you go, "What?" It's very, very exciting because you'll see some familiar characters, but in his universe, they're not the same characters.

What About the Kombat Kids?

CB: Was it a difficult choice to completely reboot Mortal Kombat, though? Because in rebooting it, you're going back to the older roots of Mortal Kombat. We don't know for certain but there are certain characters that I assume might not be in Mortal Kombat 1 as a result. The Cassie Cages and such that have become very popular with the community. Was it hard to potentially leave some of the newer characters you've created and set them to the side?

DK: I'll say this without trying to spoil anything. In Liu Kang's timeline, anything can happen. Anything can happen.

Don't Expect Cole Young on the Roster

CB: In between MK11 and this new game, there's been a new Mortal Kombat movie come about. I think a lot of people have wondered if Cole Young, the original character from that movie, would be in this game. Have you guys had those discussions internally at the studio?

DK: We're leaving that world to that world.

Approaching New Fatalities

CB: I think one of the things that stood out to me the most with the fatalities this time around, is it seems like the gore has kind of been toned down just a bit. Obviously, the game is still extremely bloody and brutal.

DK: There's still a lot of blood.

CB: Yes, but it seems like the gore has been a little bit more realistic in some sense with MK1 compared to the incredibly over-the-top nature of MK11. Was that a conscious decision and approach?

DK: So when it comes to the fatalities, it's always like a tongue-in-cheek thing, right? We want to make them humorous. We don't want to make them too over the top and gruesome. Like yeah, there's gore to them. But you watch them, you're like, "Oh my god, what?" There's humor behind them. They're impossible things, right? They come from characters that are based with magic.

All we really want to do is not necessarily tone down the gore, but just make it look as good as it possibly can. And again, with the new engine and the new tech that we have, and the stuff that the art team has really been pushing, and the tools that they have access to, we can just make it look better and not have to just make everything rain blood, per se. Although we might do something with blood rain, so we'll see. But no, it's really just more of just the quality of what this game looks like, and making sure that it looks as beautiful as possible.

Designing the New Stages

CB: Speaking of beauty, the new stages look amazing. There is so much depth to each locale. You've been mentioning the new engine a lot. Are the improved stages what the new engine really has allowed you to improve on the most?

DK: The amount of things that we can have on screen, the details that we can put in there. Even if you look at the details of just the costumes and the face, you can see the stubble on Kenshi's face, the detail. You can see almost the woven fabrics within the skins and the textures themselves. The art team just really pushed the ability of what they can do to try while also letting us run at 60 frames per second. They're doing such an amazing job and it's huge props for our art team.

What to Expect for Nintendo Switch

CB: So you've got the new engine, you're taking advantage of the next-gen hardware. But you're also still coming to Switch. I know you've not shown that version off yet. Obviously, there are going to have to be clear compromises for that version of the game to some degree. Can you talk at all about what Mortal Kombat 1 on Switch might look like, though?

DK: So we don't work closely with the Switch version. Obviously, we'll look at it, we'll review it. But we have that with our outsourcing groups, same as we did with MK11. And MK11 felt good. It played great on Switch. And again, it's for us to make sure that it's a quality product for the users, the people that purchase it a hundred percent all the time.

Taking to the Skies

CB: There's a lot more of a focus on verticality in Mortal Kombat 1...

DK: Because it's got aerial combos.

CB: Yes, there are more aerial combos this time. Was that one of the key things you decided you wanted to implemtn when you went back to the drawing board and were like, "Okay, what can we do different this time around?"

DK: So every Mortal Kombat, we don't just rinse and repeat. X didn't play like 11. 11 doesn't play like this, right? It's a new game every single time. And I was so excited for people to finally see the aerial combos because as I was corrected, it hasn't been 20 years. But it's been nearly 20 years since we've had aerial combat, since Armageddon. To open up that combo freedom for the players that really allows them to flow and do different things. When you get a pop-up, being able to follow up with your character to extend that combo and then call in a Kameo character, then slam them to the ground. They bounce back up and extend those combos. That's so much fun and so refreshing to do. It gives you the freedom to play the game you want to play. And yes, it was always a conscious thing to make sure people are having fun with this game.

CB: Is there any worry on your end that the added air combo element might make combos too lengthy? When you get into the esports scene of the game are we going to be seeing people knock off three-fourths of a person's health bar with one combo or something like that?

DK: Well, of course there's going to be balance in it. But again, we're weighing towards the side of fun, right? It matters a lot that you go to your friend's house and you're sitting and playing a game and you're having fun. We have always balanced to the competitive side. Obviously, there'll be things in place where you'll have gravity that'll start to take over. We'll make it nearly impossible for you to actually continue and extend those air combos. But when it's for a casual thing and you're just there with your friends and you're playing Mortal Kombat, we want to make sure you're having a fun time. Absolutely.

Implementing Kameo Fighters

CB: There are some popular assist-based fighting games out there but that's really never been Mortal Kombat's thing. So when you decided to include the Kameo system, what were those conversations like? I imagine you talked a lot about whether or not it's in Mortal Kombat's nature to even have a big assist element. What did those initial conversations like and why did you eventually decide to go through with putting the Kameo fighters in the game?

DK: So we've done tag in the previous games. MK9, we had tag. The Kameo system went with us starting this game from the ground up and the new timeline, new everything. It was time to try something new. And the Kameo system is almost like a simpler tag system, where you're using them to complement what you're doing versus having to manage two health bars. Manage this, manage that, and we just felt like it was something we wanted to explore. We try to explore new mechanics and new things every single game, and this was the thing we just felt strongly about exploring. And it really allows us to play up the nostalgia by bringing in Jax, Sonya, and some of those classic characters to be Kameos as well.

CB: Do you anticipate the Mortal Kombat community is going to be frustrated that certain characters are only Kameo fighters and aren't in the main roster?

DK: As we've said, you know that we also have Scorpion as a Kameo, Sub-Zero as a Kameo, Kung Lao as a Kameo. There's nothing written in stone that says a main fighter can't be a Kameo, and a Kameo can't become a main fighter.

The Remaining Roster

CB: Last question for you. What's maybe something you haven't shown off too much with Mortal Kombat 1 just yet that you're excited for fans to see more of in the coming months before release?

DK: I think it's just going to be the upcoming characters. Everybody has their voice of what they want to see, who they want back, who they haven't seen in X amount of time. For the fans to start seeing the characters and the difference these characters are starting to take in Liu Kang's timeline is probably what I'm most excited for.

CB: Well, I want Baraka, So you better put Baraka in this game.

DK: You can start an online petition, that's usually how it works. Everybody has their favorites. Between having the main roster and the Kameo characters, there are a lot of characters coming to this game. And I'm really excited about the mixture people are going to get to see.