NetherRealm Studios has an ambitious plan for Mortal Kombat X‘s Story Mode. After recreating the first three entries in the long-running franchise for 2011’s Mortal Kombat, Ed Boon and company want to visit the far-flung future in next year’s sequel. Ultimately, the campaign will send the player 25 years into the future, but Mortal Kombat X will begin by examining the direct aftermath of Shao Khan’s defeat in the previous game. From there, NetherRealm will check in on characters both old and new in five-year intervals. So after this epic bit of storytelling, what do you do for an encore?
IGN asked Ed Boon this question at Gamescom today and the answer is that this could be the end of the Mortal Kombat saga:
“One thing that’s certainly on my mind after jumping ahead 25 years, is I don’t know where we’d go from here,” Boon tentatively begins. “We wanted to do something bold, and this is a bold new story, despite the fact it’s the tenth game. But when you jump ahead 25 years it’s like… what do you do now? Do you jump in time again? Do you go back 25 years? Do you introduce a whole new cast? We’ll worry about it when we reach it, but I do think it could be hard to continue, if we do another one.”
While Boon might be willing to walk away from the franchise, the hard reality of financial success may force the developer to reconsider. The 2011 reboot became the best-selling game in the entire franchise and if Mortal Kombat X lives up to the early hype, it may sell just as well. If Boon really is out of ideas, WB Games might “persuade” him to think harder.
But that’s all far in the future. Check out the IGN interview and read up on some of the neat ideas Boon has for Mortal Kombat X.
