Image credit: NetherRealm Studios

Mortal Kombat 1, released in 2023, is the latest entry in the legendary fighting series, which has been winning gamers’ hearts for an incredible 33(!) years.

MK1 quickly became a smash hit and one of the hottest titles of the year. But then, out of nowhere, NetherRealm Studios announced the end of support for their newest game — which, surprisingly… didn’t stop it from getting even more popular!

With over 6.2 million copies sold, Mortal Kombat 1 sales made it the best-selling fighting game of this generation, pulling off a true FATALITY on its rivals. So how did this happen, and what does it mean for future instalments?

Mortal Kombat 1: The Reboot That Lit Up The Fandom

After the launch of Mortal Kombat 11, rumours swirled: would the new game be a remake of the 1992 classic, or would NetherRealm surprise us with something fresh? As it turned out, Mortal Kombat 1 is both a continuation and a full-on reboot of the iconic franchise.

The story takes place in a universe reborn by Fire God Liu Kang, bringing back fan-favourite fighters as well as brand-new ones — including several DLC characters from entirely different pop culture worlds. Thanks to the Definitive Edition, your Scorpion, Sub-Zero, or Johnny Cage could go toe-to-toe with… the T-1000 (Terminator 2), the ruthless Homelander (The Boys), Omni-Man (Invincible), or Conan the Barbarian. The battles looked stunning thanks to gorgeous visuals and a set of brand-new mechanics.

MK1 received solid reviews, though some players felt it lacked a bit of content compared to MK11. Still, the new universe, crossovers, and brutal fights kept the fighting game community engaged — and kept the sales going.

A Bestseller… Without Support!

In May 2025, NetherRealm suddenly announced: no more DLC characters, no new story chapters. Basically, the fireworks were over. And yet… the game went on to sell another 1.2 million copies after that announcement, crushing the competition with a final total of 6.2 million to this day.

Confirmed: Mortal Kombat 1 Won’t Get Any More DLC Characters or Story Chapters as NetherRealm ‘Needs to Shift Focus to the Next Project’
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That put MK1 ahead of its biggest rivals — Street Fighter 6 (5 million sold) and Tekken 8 (around 3 million) — making it the sales comparison champion of this generation’s fighting games.

Imagine that: a game, the official service period of which was over, still outselling its fully supported competitors. But why did the support end so soon?

Let’s rewind. NetherRealm has never been famous for long fighting game support cycles, but they usually lasted more than two years (e.g., MK XL, MK11). Co-creator and studio head Ed Boon even said multiple times that the next game should be supported “for many years to come”. Well… so much for promises.

MK1 didn’t even get two full years of fresh content — just under 20 months — a little over a year and a half. The community felt betrayed, with the “many years to come” talk turning out to be empty words. Reddit and forums lit up with disappointment, and the joke “MK1 lived shorter than a hamster on a Nintendo DS” became a meme.

How It Stacks Up Against The Competition

On this front, MK1 clearly loses. Street Fighter V was supported for six years, Tekken 7 for four, and the newest Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 are still getting developer love. So yes, NetherRealm never had the longest post-launch plans, but this time the drop-off was even faster — and contrary to what the devs had promised.

Ed Boon In Action

Does NetherRealm’s May 2025 statement mean the absolute end of MK1’s life cycle? Not entirely. A few days ago, Ed Boon posted on X (formerly Twitter): “With over 6.2 million games sold, we’re still committed to refining MK1 to be our most balanced game.”.

Interestingly, he’s also been running community polls, asking which fighters from MK1 should get fighter buffs and whether players prefer lots of small DLC drops or a few bigger ones.

What does this mean? It looks like the studio has indeed abandoned story expansion and new content, but is still working on MK1 patch notes to balance and refine the game. Could NetherRealm still surprise us with an extra add-on? Hard to say.

What’s Next?

Even with support for the latest game ending, the franchise is far from over. Later this year, the next movie in the series — Mortal Kombat 2 — hits theatres, produced by Warner Bros., the franchise’s publishing overlord.

It also seems NetherRealm is already working on the next game, reportedly also titled Mortal Kombat 2. Let’s hope they learn from MK1’s mistakes and give us longer support, better balance, and more varied post-launch content.

In Summary

Mortal Kombat 1 sales achieved something few fighting games ever do: it became the generation’s top seller despite its lightning-fast support drop-off. Ed Boon is still tweaking, polling the fighting game community, and talking about balance, but many fans still feel burned. Will MK2 make up for it? We don’t know yet — but at least the conversation is still going strong.