Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath Announcement Trailer Reveals New Characters, Release Date, and More

A little more than a year after Mortal Kombat 11 was released, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and NetherRealm Studios announced Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, a new expansion for the popular fighting video game. Announced today, the MK11 expansion includes new playable characters, an all-new story campaign, the return of some fan-favorite features, and more.

Best of all? Excited folks can grab Aftermath later this month. Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath will launch on May 26th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Google Stadia.

Here's what Mortal Kombat fans are in for:

New Mortal Kombat Storyline

"Fire God Liu Kang, the new keeper of time and protector of Earthrealm, must now enlist the help of unlikely allies and familiar foes to forge a new history as the fate of two worlds hang in the balance," NetherRealm Studios says of the upcoming expansion. Basically, Liu Kang and Raiden are all set to restart history after the events of Mortal Kombat 11, but it turns out they're missing a key piece needed to do so -- and the sorcerer and shapeshifter Shang Tsung knows how to get it. What follows is a new narrative experience as the warriors have to rely on Tsung, which is not ever the preferred course of action.

New Playable Characters

In addition to the aforementioned new storyline, Aftermath brings new playable characters to the fight. Out of the gate, three fighters will be joining the fray: Sheeva, the four-armed half-dragon queen; Fujin, the God of Wind and Earthrealm protector; and RoboCop, the cybernetic police officer. Yes, that RoboCop is set to be a new guest character for the franchise, following in the footsteps of other guests like the Terminator and Spawn. There will also be three new character skin packs released as part of Aftermath over time.

Friendships Return

As if that weren't enough, Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath will bring back both Friendships and stage fatalities. Friendships, if you're somehow not aware, are the non-violent version of the franchise's trademark finishers. In one Friendship example shown by NetherRealm Studios, Noob Saibot creates two shadow clones to then play double dutch with himself.

It would appear that is just the tip of the iceberg. Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon tweeted video of Sub Zero's Friendship move shortly after today's announcement:

“THE ICE CREAM MAN IS COMING!”
- Eddie. Murphy#MortalKombat11 #Aftermath #Friendshippic.twitter.com/Dilogl5yKt

— Ed Boon (@noobde) May 6, 2020

You can check out the new, very good key art for Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath below:

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath Price and Release Date

In case you already happen to own the base game, or the base game and its DLC, there are several different methods of purchasing Aftermath and its content. The Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath Kollection ($59.99) contains the base game, Aftermath, and the previously released Mortal Kombat 11 Kombat Pack in addition to 25 additional character skins. Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath on its own costs $39.99 while Aftermath plus the Mortal Kombat 11 Kombat Pack will retail for $49.99. According to NetherRealm Studios, the physical version of the Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath Kollection will be available this coming June in the Americas only.

Additionally, folks that pre-order Aftermath in any of the above combinations will receive the Eternal Klash Skin Pack at launch. The pack features three new character skins in the form of "Unbound Rage" Scorpion, "Son of Arctika" Sub-Zero, and "Kori Power" Frost. The skins should look fairly familiar to fans of the franchise, as they largely draw their designs from past entries.

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath is scheduled to release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Google Stadia on May 26th. As previously mentioned, players can pick and choose which version of the game to grab depending on how much of it they already own. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the Mortal Kombat franchise right here.

What do you think about what we've seen of Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath so far? Are you looking forward to picking it up when it releases later this month? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!