14 DAY TRIAL // Time has not been kind to the latest entry of the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise, which pitted the heroes and the villains of the universe to those coming from the DC comics universe.
The game launched to high expectations, promising new types of combat and complex interactions between characters but did not manage to do as well as Street Fighter IV, the fighting game that seems to be dominating the world of gamers.
The title recently received another blow, as Ed Boon, the guiding hand behind the series, announced that the planned downloadable content for the game would not be coming out.
It appears that Boon and his team had been working on adding Harley Quinn of Batman fame and Quan Chi, the wizard which had a preference for the color green from Mortal Kombat. And, judging by the image that Boon posted (which is also attached to this article), development on the two characters was pretty much done.
The rather treacherous situation in which Midway is right now, having been bought by Warner Bros. after a period of financial limbo probably limited the resources devoted to the DLC and led to its being canceled. Unfortunately, this means that Quan Chi will likely have to wait a few years before starring in a console Mortal Kombat, while Harley Quinn will probably never appear in a fighting game again.
The good news is that with Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe pretty much abandoned, Ed Boon and his team working at Midway can focus on putting together the next Mortal Kombat game, only known as “9” and apparently being worked on at the moment. It's unlikely we'll see the game before 2011 or 2012 but it's good to know that the spirit of the franchise is alive and kicking, with Ed Boon promising gorier Fatalities and a return to the roots of the series.