The first genre award to be handed out at tonight's Spike TV Video Game Awards went to Mortal Kombat for best fighting game of 2011. That moment didn't pass by without a sliver of news from developer NetherRealm Studios, as studio head Ed Boon confirmed that his studio is taking a hiatus from the Mortal Kombat franchise.

Don't expect to see a new Mortal Kombat anytime soon.

According to Boon, while it's an inevitability that the studio will eventually return to the franchise that was first born in 1992, right now the team is at work on a different project. Boon did not offer any other details on what that project may be, though he did note that NetherRealm has no plans to release additional downloadable content for the most recent Mortal Kombat.

One possible new outlet for Boon's Warner Bros. Interactive-owned studio is the Batman franchise. Earlier this week, NetherRealm announced that it had released Batman: Arkham City Lockdown for iOS devices. A riff off of Rocksteady's acclaimed action adventure starring the Black Knight, Arkham City Lockdown pits Batman against foes such as Joker, Two-Face, and Deathstroke in one-on-one fights.

Stay tuned to GameSpot for more from tonight's VGAs.