Key Highlights:
- Jez Corden suggested that Mortal Kombat 1 information would arrive in May 2023.
- Corden made the claim while responding to streamer Maximilian Dood on 21 April.
- Warner Bros. Games officially announced Mortal Kombat 1 on 18 May 2023.
Windows Central journalist Jez Corden suggested on 21 April 2023 that NetherRealm Studios would reveal more information about its next Mortal Kombat game the following month.
Corden responded after fighting game streamer Maximilian Dood said he hoped the next instalment would retain the fast decision-making found in Mortal Kombat 9.
“I think you’ll find out more next month,” Corden wrote.
The prediction proved accurate. Warner Bros. Games officially announced Mortal Kombat 1 on 18 May 2023, less than four weeks after Corden’s response.
Maximilian Dood published his original post while playing Mortal Kombat 9. He praised the game’s speed and said he hoped the expected Mortal Kombat 12 would provide a similar style of decision-making.
Corden replied directly to the post and pointed towards May 2023 as the likely month for further information.
His message did not specify an announcement date, event or trailer. It nevertheless provided a much narrower reveal window than NetherRealm had publicly shared at that stage.
Corden was known for reporting information connected to Microsoft, Xbox and the wider games industry. His response therefore carried more weight than an unsupported social media rumour.
Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive David Zaslav had named Mortal Kombat 12 during the company’s fourth-quarter 2022 earnings call on 23 February 2023.
Zaslav listed the game among Warner Bros. Discovery’s planned 2023 releases. However, NetherRealm had not yet presented the project through its own announcement campaign when Corden made his prediction.
Series co-creator Ed Boon had also increased speculation through several cryptic social media posts. One message contained the word “tick” 12 times, which fans interpreted as a countdown towards the next game’s reveal.
Corden’s response went further by identifying May as the likely announcement window.
The reveal confirmed that NetherRealm’s next game would not retain the Mortal Kombat 12 title used during the Warner Bros. Discovery earnings call. Mortal Kombat 1 instead introduced a reimagined universe created by Fire God Liu Kang.
The announcement trailer confirmed eight characters, including Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Kitana and Mileena. Warner Bros. Games also announced a 19 September 2023 release date for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and Windows PC.
Corden did not reveal the game’s name or exact announcement date in his April response. However, his May prediction correctly identified when NetherRealm’s formal reveal campaign would begin.
