Author: Game Infliction

Following a tease from Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon, rumors around Mortal Kombat 12 have already started circulating ahead of any official announcement from Netherrealm Studios.

Days ago, Boon posted a short video of a ticking clock on Twitter counting down to something, and that something is most certainly Mortal Kombat 12. The clock almost reaches the 12th hour before an explosion rockets it ahead to land on “1.”

Today, another Twitter account associated with previous PSN leaks, @billbil_kun, alleges that the next grizzly fighter is titled Mortal Kombat 1, making that “1” in Boon’s video seems a little more significant.

As you may notice, game will be available for Next-Gen consoles only (while including Nintendo Switch)

Comes in 3 editions:
– Standard
– Premium
– Kollector’s Edition (Physical only, not available for Nintendo Switch)

Announcement should be close

— billbil-kun (@billbil_kun) May 11, 2023

“Next Mortal Kombat game from NetherRealm Studios / WB Games will be called: Mortal Kombat 1,” @ billbil_kun wrote, following up with a bulleted list of specifics:

• “PC, PS5, Xbox Series S|X, Nintendo Switch
• Standard: 69.99$ (PS5, XB) / 59.99$ (SW)
• Premium: 109.99$
• Kollector’s: 249.99$ (PS5, XB)”

The tweets also note an official announcement “should be close,” and the game is only for this generation of consoles. There’s no Kollector’s Edition available for Switch either, and the pricey package will only have a physical release.

Whether or not the “1” in the official Mortal Kombat video actually means something–like a reboot–remains unknown, as official channels are limited to teasers. Once the rumors took off, Boon denied claims from leakers, following up with another tweet highlighting a video from @unCAGEDgamez “shootin’ down the rumors.”

Great video by @unCAGEDgamez shootin’ down the rumors!https://t.co/rGGULDDzvf

— Ed Boon (@noobde) May 12, 2023

Specifics like pricepoint, platform, and title may be easier to glean from a glance, but Mortal Kombat 12’s initial “reveal” remains the more surprising. Last February, the news Netherrealm was planning another Mortal Kombat sometime this year broke during an earnings call when a Warner Brothers executive mentioned the title by name.

It’s been four years since Netherrealm released Mortal Kombat 11, though the recent teases line up with a bigger milestone celebrating the series’ 30th anniversary. The studio has also mentioned it’s working on another project, which is why it ended MK11’s DLC support, though Netherrealm never announced what that project is.

Andrea Shearon is a freelance contributor for IGN covering games and entertainment. She’s worn several hats over her seven-year career in the games industry, with bylines over at Fanbyte, USA Today’s FTW, TheGamer, VG247, and RPG Site. Find her on Twitter (@Maajora) or the Materia Possessions podcast chatting about FFXIV, RPGs, and any series involving giant robots.

Deviation Games has laid off a number of developers as Sony reevaluates its portfolio. The studio is currently working on a new original AAA IP with PlayStation.

Several developers from Deviation Games took to LinkedIn to announce that they had been let go of their current positions. These include now-former associate producer Jared Bailey, technical combat and encounter designer Luke Stumpf, and software engineer Kyle Perras.

Not much context or information was provided about the reason for layoffs, but Perras mentioned that Deviation Games “ran into a difficult situation and was forced to make a number of layoffs which I was a part of.” It’s unknown whether the layoffs have anything to do with PlayStation’s project with Deviation Games and its current status.

Deviation Games was founded in June 2021 by Call of Duty veterans Jason Blundell and Dave Anthony, who initially revealed the partnership with PlayStation. However, Blundell left Deviation Games shortly after a year in September 2022.

Deviation Games isn’t the only studio going through layoffs this week. PlayStation’s first-party studio and Concrete Genie developer, PixelOpus, is shutting down on June 2. Ubisoft had a wave of layoffs earlier this week too.

Not much is currently known about Deviation’s new IP, but it’s presumably going to release on PlayStation 5. Sony has also been investing in more multiplayer titles with developers such as Haven Studios and Firewalk Studios, so it’s possible that Deviation’s game will be multiplayer as well.

Between the releases of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, Forspoken, and Octopath Traveler II, it’s been another busy year for Square Enix. Still, though, the company hopes to expand, and this might include forming or acquiring new studios.

Today, Square Enix revealed that it is thinking about creating new studios and acquiring existing studios as part of its plan to grow its in-house development resources.

According to slides from the company’s full earnings report released today, Square Enix plans to “consider M&A, creating new studios, and taking minority stakes” to bring in more external development resources.”

In addition, it plans to hire more engineers and developers “to develop not only HD and smart device games but also content for future cross-platform offerings.”

Square Enix also revealed that sales and profit were down during its 2023 fiscal year, though it partially attributed this to the lack of expansions in comparison to last year’s DLC for Final Fantasy XIV. The company forecasts a stronger fiscal year in 2024.

Earlier this year, Forspoken developer Luminous Productions was absorbed back into Square Enix to continue working on AAA games, but in March, Square Enix said that Forspoken sales were “lackluster.” Its president also recently stepped down after a 10-year run that ended in controversial blockchain advocacy.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they’ve contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as soon as players completed the initial Great Plateau tutorial era, it was possible to grab a paraglider and sprint straight to the game’s final boss, clearing the game in under an hour. Based on our time with the game so far, it seems like a similar path is available in the sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, albeit with a key difference from its predecessor.

WARNING: Spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom follow. Scroll below the video at your own risk.

Just like in Breath of the Wild, in Tears of the Kingdom you can finish the game’s “tutorial” of sorts on on The Great Sky Island, and then go straight to the end of the game. However, there’s a key difference from Breath of the Wild. In Breath of the Wild, you were given the quest “Defeat Ganon,” which told you exactly where to go and what to do to trigger the ending. But Tears of the Kingdom gives you no such quest. You have to already know where the end of the game is and head there without in-game guidance, and then know what to do when you get there.

The end of Tears of the Kingdom is only truly accessible once you finish a very early main quest to get the Paraglider. However, where you’re going and what you’re doing is actually a massive, massive spoiler – one big enough that we don’t want to touch it in an article like this. If you really, really want to skip to the end right away, check out our guide on how to do so. But really, we’re warning you, it’s a pretty big spoiler. Once you know, there’s no going back.

We have tons more Tears of the Kingdom content lined up in the coming days. In the meantime, check out our review of Tears of the Kingdom, which we called “an unfathomable follow-up to one of the greatest games ever made, somehow improving upon it in nearly every way.” And for help getting started, take a look at our Wiki guide to everything you could ever want to know about making your way through Hyrule.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.