Mortal Kombat studio’s mobile team hit with layoffs, report says

By Carli Velocci Published July 18, 2024

Mortal Kombat Onslaught promo image featuring multiple MK characters. — NetherRealm Studios

Mass layoffs have hit Mortal Kombat and Injustice developer NetherRealm Studios, according to reports by former workers on Thursday.

As spotted by TechRaptor, the layoffs seemed to mostly impact the mobile team. Among those affected was quality assurance (QA)analyst Tony Lazzara, who posted about the layoffs on LinkedIn, and also noted that the entire team had been shut down. He didn’t specify how many people were laid off or if it the layoffs were limited to just mobile, but said “a ton of very talented people were put out of work.” Another former NetherRealm QA analyst, Samantha Edward, posted that the move impacted “most of my colleagues” on the mobile side.

Recommended Videos

The team worked on 2023’s Mortal Kombat: Onslaught and Mortal Kombat Mobile. As TechRaptor pointed out, Mortal Kombat Mobile just received an update on Wednesday, adding comics character Spawn, other character variants, and new events. NetherRealm also continues to support its other titles. Mortal Kombat 1 just added Takeda Takahashi as a playable character, and it will be at the Evo games tournament, which kicks off this weekend.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

It’s unclear if NetherRealm is exiting mobile entirely, or if this is all a consequence of losses at parent company Warner Bros. Games, due in part to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League flopping. In March, division head J.B. Perrette said that it would be pivoting to focus on its more profitable IP, such as Hogwarts Legacy (and Harry Potter in general), along with MultiVersus. He also added that this includes live-service, free-to-play, and mobile games.

Neither NetherRealm nor Warner Bros. Games have made an official statement on the matter. Digital Trends reached out to NetherRealm Studios for comment and will update this story when we receive a response.

Topics

Contributor, Games

Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…

Gaming

Mortal Kombat 1 Fatalities: how to do every character’s Fatality

Shang Tsung stealing someone's soul in Mortal Kombat 1.

What set the Mortal Kombat franchise apart when it first hit arcades was just how brutally violent the games were. It looks tame now, but the Fatalities of the original game were some of the most shocking things anyone had seen in a game up to that point, pixelated graphics and all. With Mortal Kombat 1, NetherRealm continues to churn our stomachs with some of the most disgustingly detailed ways to dismantle your opponent. Everyone loves seeing these creative ways your favorite fighter can definitively end a fight, but if you want to show off to your friends and humiliate your enemy, you have to know the specific button input to pull it off for each character. There are more that you can unlock, but here is how to perform every character's basic Fatality in Mortal Kombat 1.
How to perform all basic Fatalities
Here are all the default inputs for every character's Fatality on PlayStation and Xbox controls in alphabetical order, as well as what range you need to be at to trigger the Fatality. Once you have reduced your opponent's health to 0 and they are susceptible to a Fatality, which you will know from the announcer calling out "Finish him" or "Finish her," you will have five seconds to input the correct sequence.
Ashrah - Mid range
Down, Forward, Down, Triangle/Y
Baraka - Close range
Back, Forward, Down, Square/X
General Shao - Mid range
Back, Forward, Down, Square/X
Geras - Mid range
Forward, Down, Down, Circle/B
Havik - Close range
Down, Forward, Down, Circle/B
Johnny Cage - Close range
Forward, Back, Down, Triangle/Y
Kenshi - Close range
Forward, Down, Down, Triangle/Y
Kitana - Mid range
Down, Forward, Down, Circle/B
Kung Lao - Mid range
Down, Down, Back, Circle/B
Li Mei - Close range
Forward, Back, Forward, Cross/A
Lui Kang - Close range
Back, Forward, Down, Circle/B
Mileena - Close range
Back, Forward, Back, Square/X
Nitara - Mid range
Down, Down, Back, Square/X
Raiden - Close range
Back, Forward, Back, Triangle/Y
Rain - Close range
Down, Down, Back, Circe/B
Reiko - Mid range
Down, Down, Back, Triangle/Y
Reptile - Mid range
Forward, Back, Down, Circle/B
Scorpion - Mid range
Down, Forward, Back, RT
Shang Tsung - Close range
Back, Down, Down, Circle/B
Sindel - Mid range
Down, Back, Down, Square/X
Smoke - Any range
Back, Forward, Down, Square/X
Sub Zero - Any range
Forward, Down, Down, Triangle/Y
Tanya - Close range
Down, Back, Down, Cross/A
All Kameo Fighter Fatalities
Cyrax - Mid range
Forward, Back, Forward, RB
Darrius - Mid range
Down, Back, Forward, RB
Frost - Mid range
Back, Down, Back, RB
Goro - Close range
Back, Forward, Down, RB
Jax - Far range
Down, Forward, Down, RB
Kano Mid range
Back, Down, Forward, RB
Kung Lao - Mid range
Forward, Back, Forward, RB
Sareena - Mid range
Back, Down, Down, RB
Scorpion - Mid range
Down, Forward, Down, RB
Sektor - Mid range
Back, Forward, Back, RB
Shunjiko - Mid range
Down, Back, Down, RB
Sonya - Mid range
Back, Forward, Down, RB
Stryker - Mid range
Forward, Down, Forward, RB
Sub-Zero - Mid range
Forward, Down, Forward, RB

Gaming

Mortal Kombat 1’s story mode shares strengths and weaknesses with superhero movies

Key art for Mortal Kombat 1 shows Liu Kang.

NetherRealm Studios has perfected the cinematic fighting game story mode.

Ever since 2008’s Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, the Chicago-based studio has played a critical role in fleshing out what single-player, story-focused narratives in fighting games should look like, forever changing a genre that historically focused on multiplayer. By now, the formula for these story modes feels like it’s down to a science. They’re split into multiple chapters, each focusing on one character and featuring four fights between cinematic action and character-focused scenes.

Gaming

Bloody new Mortal Kombat 1 trailer brings back 2 classic fighters

Rain stands next to Sektor in Mortal Kombat 1.

Mortal Kombat 1 got a bloody new gameplay trailer, showing off more of its story and bloody fatalities. Most notably, it confirms two old characters that are returning for the latest installment: Smoke and Rain.

Mortal Kombat 1 - Official Lin Kuei Trailer