Ed Boon asked fans to choose the next Mortal Kombat name, and Mortal Kombat 2 is ahead. The vote says plenty about expectations, but NetherRealm has not revealed the sequel yet.
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Ed Boon’s poll puts Mortal Kombat 2 in front, with a catch
Mortal Kombat co-creator and NetherRealm Studios chief creative officer Ed Boon asked fans on X what they want the next Mortal Kombat game to be called, and the live results reported by multiple outlets show Mortal Kombat 2 leading over Mortal Kombat 13 and Mortal Kombat 12. That is the concrete news. The tension is that Boon immediately narrowed what fans should read into it.
GamingBolt reports that Boon followed the poll with a clarification: “Some people are assuming the title with the most votes will determine where we take the story. That’s not the case. We’ve just had difficulty kounting lately… Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat X, Mortal Kombat 11, Mortal Kombat 1.”
That matters for expectations because the next Mortal Kombat name is not the same as an announcement. NetherRealm has not revealed the next entry’s release window, platforms, roster, systems, price, or competitive plans in the source material provided. GameSpot and IGN both cite Boon’s earlier May 2026 confirmation that NetherRealm is pursuing another Mortal Kombat game, but the current poll is a public-facing naming question, not a reveal trailer. Treat it like a high-profile temperature check from the series’ most visible developer, with an explicit warning that the winning title does not lock the narrative direction.
The vote is live, so the exact lead depends on when outlets checked
The reported numbers are close enough to agree on the trend, but they do not match perfectly because the X poll was still moving when outlets wrote about it. GameSpot reported Mortal Kombat 2 at 45.2 percent at its time of writing. VGTimes reported more than 52,000 votes, with Mortal Kombat 2 at 45.3 percent, Mortal Kombat 13 at 31.3 percent, and Mortal Kombat 12 at 23.3 percent. ComicBook.com reported Mortal Kombat 2 at 44.2 percent, Mortal Kombat 13 at 32.3 percent, and Mortal Kombat 12 at 23.5 percent. IGN’s earlier snapshot had Mortal Kombat 2 at 43 percent, Mortal Kombat 13 at 33 percent, and Mortal Kombat 12 at 23 percent.
The spread is small, but it is worth being precise: Mortal Kombat 2 is leading in every cited report, while Mortal Kombat 13 is second and Mortal Kombat 12 trails. The live nature of the poll also means the numbers should not be treated as final unless Boon or NetherRealm publishes a final tally.
For players, the shape of the vote is more interesting than a single decimal. The community preference, at least among people responding to Boon’s poll, is not to pretend Mortal Kombat 1 was secretly Mortal Kombat 12. Fans are leaning toward a title that follows the reset’s own numbering logic.
Why Mortal Kombat 2 is the cleanest messy answer
Mortal Kombat 2 is winning because it is the easiest title to understand if you begin with 2023’s Mortal Kombat 1. GameSpot notes that Mortal Kombat 1 was a soft reboot after Mortal Kombat 11, remixed established story beats, and put familiar characters in new roles. GamingBolt frames Mortal Kombat 2 as the choice that would indicate a direct follow-up to Mortal Kombat 1, especially after the timeline reset following Mortal Kombat 11.
The problem is obvious: the franchise already has a Mortal Kombat 2. VGTimes points to the 1993 release, while ComicBook.com also notes potential confusion with both the older game and the current live-action film naming situation. For anyone outside the weekly fighting-game news loop, “Mortal Kombat 2” can mean an arcade classic, a movie, or a future NetherRealm sequel depending on context.
Still, from a player-facing angle, Mortal Kombat 2 has cleaner competitive and onboarding value than Mortal Kombat 12 or 13. If NetherRealm wants the next game to read as the continuation of Liu Kang’s new era, Mortal Kombat 2 tells casual buyers and returning players where to start. Mortal Kombat 13 is numerically honest to the broader mainline count, but it asks the public to remember that Mortal Kombat 1 was the twelfth mainline game. Mortal Kombat 12 may satisfy people who rejected the reboot numbering, but it would also imply a correction that NetherRealm has not announced.
That is interpretation, not confirmed strategy. Boon specifically said the poll result does not determine the story. The naming preference does, however, show that many fans are willing to accept the reboot’s count if the next game continues from it.
The name debate is really about continuity after Mortal Kombat 1
The current Mortal Kombat naming problem comes from the series’ own reset history. GameSpot summarizes the modern run this way: 2011’s Mortal Kombat revived the series as the ninth installment, followed by Mortal Kombat X in 2015 and Mortal Kombat 11 in 2019. Mortal Kombat 11 closed the original storyline that began with 1992’s Mortal Kombat, then Mortal Kombat 1 arrived in 2023 as a soft reboot.
That makes the next Mortal Kombat name a small label carrying a lot of franchise baggage. Mortal Kombat 2 would suggest commercial continuity with the 2023 reboot, even if Boon says it does not dictate the plot. Mortal Kombat 13 would acknowledge the long-running mainline sequence, which may appeal to longtime players who track eras rather than marketing resets. Mortal Kombat 12 is the strangest option because Mortal Kombat 1 already occupies that slot in most accounting, but its presence in the poll acknowledges that some fans still read the 2023 title as a detour in the count.
Story-wise, the sources point to why players are searching for a signal. GameSpot says Mortal Kombat 1’s campaign leaned into multiple timelines near its end, drawing in characters from across a Mortal Kombat multiverse against Shang Tsung from the previous timeline. GameSpot also says the Khaos Reigns expansion returned to those ideas through Titan Havik’s attempt to merge all timelines. ComicBook.com describes the multiverse plot of Mortal Kombat 1 as having concluded and says some players are hoping for a return to form.
None of that confirms where NetherRealm goes next. It does explain why a three-option name poll became a proxy fight over whether fans want a new-era sequel, a mainline continuation, or something that feels closer to pre-reboot NetherRealm.
What the vote could signal for NetherRealm’s next game
Boon’s clarification sets the boundary: the title with the most votes will not decide the story. Within that boundary, the poll can still tell NetherRealm something useful about positioning. Mortal Kombat 2 leading suggests that the audience is not broadly rejecting the idea of a direct sequel label to Mortal Kombat 1, despite debate around the last game.
That debate matters because Mortal Kombat 1’s systems and support cycle shaped player trust. ComicBook.com calls the Kameo assist mechanics divisive and points to criticism around monetization and single-player content. IGN says Mortal Kombat 1 officially stopped receiving new content updates in May 2025 and describes the game’s competitive tournament presence as lackluster. VGTimes also says support for Mortal Kombat 1 ended in 2025. GamingBolt frames the gap as more than a year since NetherRealm announced Mortal Kombat 1 would not receive more new content, with the studio focused on its next project.
For competitive players, the name does not answer the real matchup questions. It does not tell us whether Kameos return, whether they become selectable assists with tighter rules, whether NetherRealm pivots back to traditional one-on-one structure, or whether the next roster restores sidelined mainstays in playable form. ComicBook.com notes that Sonya Blade and Jax were relegated to Kameo assist roles in Mortal Kombat 1, and also raises the possibility that a follow-up to the new era could keep designs and roles created for that game. That is speculation from the outlet, not an announced roster plan.
The practical read is simple: if NetherRealm calls it Mortal Kombat 2, players should expect a branding link to Mortal Kombat 1, but should not assume system continuity until NetherRealm shows gameplay. In fighting-game terms, the name is a stance switch animation. The frame data is still hidden.
Business pressure favors Mortal Kombat staying active
The poll also lands in a business environment where Mortal Kombat remains one of Warner Bros. Games’ biggest assets. GamingBolt reports that Mortal Kombat 1 sold eight million copies and notes that a third film in the current series was confirmed last year. GamingBolt also points to WB Games restructuring around major franchises including Mortal Kombat, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and DC.
GameSpot adds a broader corporate update, reporting that Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery went through and led to a merger between Warner Bros. Interactive and Paramount Games Studio. According to GameSpot, the combined entity places Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, Batman, Avatar: The Last Airbender, South Park, and Star Trek under the same roof, with Tony Driscoll, president of games and experiences at Skydance, overseeing the new division.
Those details do not confirm a launch target or platform list, but they make the franchise’s continued presence unsurprising. Mortal Kombat is one of the few fighting games with mainstream sales gravity, film synergy, and a recognizable character library beyond tournament regulars. That does not protect the next game from design risk. If anything, it raises the stakes: the next NetherRealm game has to serve story-first players, lab monsters, ranked grinders, offline tournament organizers, and the large casual audience that buys Mortal Kombat for spectacle and characters.
Rumors around Injustice 3 remain separate from the confirmed Mortal Kombat discussion. GamingBolt references rumors of Injustice 3, while VGTimes says Boon replied “All false” after September reports about tests for new Injustice and Mortal Kombat games. The confirmed line, from GameSpot and IGN’s reporting on Boon’s May comments, is that another Mortal Kombat game is being pursued.
What players should and should not take from the poll
Right now, players can safely say three things. Boon asked fans to vote among Mortal Kombat 12, Mortal Kombat 13, and Mortal Kombat 2. Mortal Kombat 2 is leading in the reported snapshots from IGN, ComicBook.com, GameSpot, and VGTimes. Boon has said the vote will not determine the story direction.
Everything else remains unannounced in the provided sources. There is no confirmed release date, no platform list, no Steam or console store page, no preorder price, no beta plan, no rollback or crossplay detail, and no confirmed roster. If you are deciding whether to return to Mortal Kombat 1, wait for actual gameplay and support-plan details before treating the next game as either a full reset or a refined sequel.
The poll is still valuable because it shows the next Mortal Kombat name is not a cosmetic issue for this community. Mortal Kombat 2 leading means many fans are comfortable following the reboot’s count, even though it risks confusion with the 1993 game and the film naming track. NetherRealm can use that signal, but the studio will have to earn the sequel label in the areas players can feel: movement, defensive options, character identity, online stability, content cadence, and tournament readability.