President and chief executive officer for Warner Bros David Zaslav has revealed that NetherRealm Studio’s Mortal Kombat 1 has amassed almost 3 million copies sold since its launch just under two months ago.
Blood Money
The news was made public as Zaslav spoke during an earnings call for the company’s third quarter for its 2023 fiscal year. Before the game was released in September, the series was revealed to have sold 80 million copies in its history, making it the most successful fighting game franchise of all time.
Recent history has seen the series grow in stature and sales as Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11 passed the 10 million mark, while Mortal Kombat 9 had been the previous frontrunner with more than 4 million.
For extra context on how far the series has come, It took Mortal Kombat 9 four months to reach Mortal Kombat 1’s current numbers. It also manages to be a pretty respectable haul considering just how packed the release schedule has been in that time, with the likes of Super Mario Wonder, Alan Wake 2, Spider-Man 2, and more vying for a piece of our wallets.
No wonder Warner Bros. is keen to turn its biggest moneymakers into live service titles.
PlayStation Lifestyle’s Michael Leri reviewed the game back in September, handing it an 8/10. In his review, he wrote, ”Mortal Kombat 1 has some of the most liberating combat mechanics NetherRealm has ever made, but some of the peripheral features fall a little short of what the studio has achieved prior.”
NetherRealm has a host of guest characters joining the game, including John Cena’s Peacemaker, and J.K. Simmons’ Omni-Man from Invincible.
Mortal Kombat 1 is available now on PS4 and PS5.
