While the announcement of Mortal Kombat 1 seems to have been well received, many, specifically the Injustice community, were left feeling rather disappointed, as many had speculated that NetherRealms Studios would have been working on Injustice 3. And while the company does seem to hint that there is still future for the franchise, they have given an explanation as to why they decided to make another Mortal Kombat game over the long-awaited DC fighter sequel.

Speaking in a recent interview on the Jeff Gerstmann Show, Ed Boon opened up on the team’s decision to develop a new Mortal Kombat game instead of another Injustice.

Question: I think a lot of people were expecting Injustice 3 here, but did you just roll right into Aftermath feels good storywise, you’re like, “No, we gotta get back at it.” How did it happen?

Ed Boon: A number of things happened since that (Aftermath.) We switched to a newer Unreal, and that was a big heavy lift. We knew it was something we eventually had to do and that it would make the next game take longer, and then COVID hit, and so we were really finding our footing in terms of how we were going to do this. But we made the decision to go to the new Unreal before COVID had hit, so we committed to that direction. The thought was, if we did an Injustice game and we knew we were going to take longer, it would be like seven years between MK games, and we can’t have any of that.

So we said, okay, let’s do another Mortal Kombat game. It was something that we’re going to showcase a new graphic engine, gameplay, and stuff like that; let’s do another Mortal Kombat game, and then the plan would be to go back to Injustice and stuff like that.

Given the popularity and how many iterations of Mortal Kombat games there are, we suppose his reasoning is understandable. That’s not to say that it’s not a disappointing one, as it’s been over six years since the last Injustice game. Still, it does look like a new Injustice game is still on the table, as Ed did say “the plan would be to go back to Injustice and stuff like that,” it’s just only a matter of when at this point.

In the very least, if you’re looking to scratch that superhero (or supervillain?) fighter itch, if the leaks are to be believed, Peacemaker (DC,) Homelander (The Boys,) and Omni Man (Invincible) are said to be part of Mortal Kombat 1’s first Kombat Pack. So there’s always that to help tide you over until the next Injustice game.