Says NetherRealm Studios' pattern for announcing and releasing game has been broken

Well, there you have it, folks. We will not be seeing Mortal Kombat 11 at E3 2018.

Fighting game fans have been anxiously awaiting NetherRealm Studios' next big reveal, and based on the company's track record of announcing and releasing games in recent years, the chances of a new Mortal Kombat being shown at this year's were very high.

Now, we have confirmation from NetherRealm Creative Director and co-creator of the Mortal Kombat series, Ed Boon, that no such announcement is scheduled for the expo this week.

Boon and a handful of fellow game developers sat down with Giant Bomb at E3 to discuss the gaming community and their latest projects. Not long into the talk, Boon was asked about Mortal Kombat 11, specifically why there has been no game reveal.

"We've had E3s where there's no game in the past," Boon said. "There's definitely like a pattern we've been following that we've kind of broken out of, and I'm surprised at how many people know about that pattern."

The Mortal Kombat creator explains that their team is changing things around, in terms of how and when they announce / release their fighting games. Still, there may actually be something in the works to talk about, just not right now.

"I'm chomping at the bit to talk about stuff, but at the moment we have nothing that we're announcing," Boon explained.

NetherRealm Studios has been alternating between their Mortal Kombat and Injustice series since 2012. The general approach has been: a "Komplete" or "Legendary" edition of a game is released, then an announcement for a new game in the other series drops a few months later.

Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition saw its release on February 28, 2012 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. On May 31, 2012, Injustice: Gods Among Us was revealed.

Nearly a year later, Injustice: Gods Among Us launched on April 16, 2013. The Ultimate Edition of Injustice was released October 7, 2013, and right before that following E3 we saw an announcement for Mortal Kombat X on June 2, 2014.

Mortal Kombat XL -- essentially its "Komplete" edition with all of the DLC intact -- hit store shelves on March 1, 2016, and hot off the heels of the release we saw Injustice 2 officially announced on June 8, 2016. Again, this unveiling of a new fighter from NetherRealm Studios took place right before E3.

Injustice 2's Legendary Edition in available now, incorporating all of the game's content including such DLC fighters as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hellboy, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Black Manta, and more. It was officially released on March 27, 2018, leading many to believe that Mortal Kombat 11 would be showcased right before E3 this year.

We're on the last day of E3 2018 today, and though hope for Mortal Kombat 11 has already been waning due to the absence of a reveal, we can now say for certain that it is not happening this week.

Now that NetherRealm Studios has broken the pattern, an announcement could happen at any time. We'll just have to be patient.

We recently discussed Mortal Kombat X's Variation system and whether or not it should return in Mortal Kombat 11. Be sure to check out our piece and let us know what you think in the comments!

Via TestYourMight.