Mortal Kombat Studio NetherRealm Is Reportedly Facing Layoffs

I hope NRS gets from under WB some day. The micro-transactions and ads got so egregious, I stopped playing MK.

With MK1 being their worst-reviewed game this is no surprise. The folks at the bottom always suffer losses before those at the top.

@LikelySatan I concur. What's happened to that studio under WB is tragic.

@Jack_Goetz I played MKXL the other day and it had a giant MK1 ad on the title screen. Before that, it was an 11 ad. When 11 was already installed...
I could go on and on about NRS and MK. Changing the in-game store to screw over players AFTER reviews hit. Making training progression require an online connection. Turning the Krypt into loot boxes. It's a nightmare.

How can I legit feel sorry for them if their first determination is yet another live service and mobile game made for whales? 🐳🐳🐳 Their intention is greed here and greed doesn't pay, I think this is a good thing that it weeds out most the greedy Devs with their intentions

@JR150 the series and fighting games overall are good as dead due to yet again greed, no sympathy from me in this situation, both have been driven to the ground because of it and this is karma that was long time coming imo

I wonder how much it cost to develop MK1 and how much they made from it.

Remember when Queen was singing "This could be heaven for everyone" ... and look at what we're doing instead 😰

To be more on topic, since the Switch Batman trilogy, I've learned not to give any more money to WB Games. This just confirms my stance.

I have no worries all these talented people will find a better home for themselves. 🧡

@Lightsiyd I mean surely these mobile things must have made more than MK1. Isn't that the thing? Low cost, high return?

@JalapenoSpiceLife Whilst you're not wrong that corporate greed is the primary cause for so much of this, you have to remember that it comes from the top levels and those are not the levels affected by layoffs.

The regular programmers and artists etc are not wringing their hands greedily at the thought of all that money from the next GaaS, ad-riddled, battle pass lead, microtransaction filled instalment. They don't reap the benefits from any success of that bar potentially job security but even that's no longer a sure thing after a success. And when it all fails they're the ones to get laid off, not the CEO that wanted it or the money men and analysists that advised it.

And in the rare occasions those guys ever do take a fall it always comes with a golden parachute. Remember Bobby Kotick left Activision with $400 million, enough to employ around 11,000 games artists on an average wage for a year. Or multiple large studios for a few years.

So this negativity you're revelling in, it's not hurting the people you think it is.

@JalapenoSpiceLife
At least we still have Smash. Hopefully the upcoming new Fatal Fury doesn't fall victim to this stuff.

@Ogbert no amount of apologetic behaviour is going to work on me sadly, they made their bed and laid in it.

Given how 1 was all hands on deck and already feels stripped down and rushed as it is I'm guessing this is not going to go well for their future projects. Sucks for the people laid off because it's not at all their fault 1 has the issues it does.

@JalapenoSpiceLife
WB will continue digging the graves of every game studio they own while the WB exec level that has been been pushing all this GAAS BS will never be at fear of layoffs like this so the karma you want hasn’t actually happened.

@LikelySatan Agreed as a game I actually liked M1K I enjoy the gameplay and the roster but the vile, despicable monetisation just put me off. Same with Tekken 8 when it launched I was over the moon and so happy after how disappointed I was by 7 then a month later they slimeily added tonnes of disgusting Micro transaction garbage and I haven't touched the game since

Err sorry but is my memory serving me wrong? Netherrealm studios and the Mortal Kombat IP were both in absolute nomansland before WB games acquired the studio.

Fair enough if you don't like what's happened over the years... but MKX and MK11 were a massive, MASSIVE peak for both the studio and the franchise! 26 million copies of those 2 games!!

Absolute nonsense of the highest order to suggest otherwise.

WB Games has its faults (as do all the publishers, incidentally), but Mortal Kombat games (and I'd argue Injustice, but to a much lesser extent) are some of their successes. There's no debate. Look at the sales and reviews.

Also, you are making huge assumptions about how controlling WB are with Netherrealm. You don't have to be a franchise geek to know that Ed Boon absolutely runs the show - always has and always will. He created Mortal Kombat and he is still there today at the top of the studio. This news, and indeed the state of MK1, are firmly on him as much as anyone "wearing a suit".

How can they be facing layoffs after charging $10 for fatalities / costumes?

@Keyblade-Dan Crash Bandicoot Racing did something similarly shady. After it was reviewed and given terrific scores, they added microtransactions. Years later, everything is still a huge grind to unlock because they want people to buy the virtual currency.

They're laying off the group that was working on WB's GAS games? Didn't WB just tell us they were true believers in live service games?

@JalapenoSpiceLife totally agree they made the mechanics of the game. and about time they all crash and burn.

WB Games destroyed the Arkham series with Suicide Squad and they’re chipping away at MK.

@JalapenoSpiceLife it's not apologetic behaviour.

I'm saying don't be happy, be angry. Because the people guilty are not the ones being punished, the innocent people are. This is not a victory for us, it's a victory for them and we should be mad about that.

Saying you're glad, is siding with the ones who are forcing the industry in this direction in the first place.

@Keyblade-Dan easy fatalities and paying for advantages are against the spirit of the series. It used to be packed with secrets that were spread by word of mouth. It's just an aesthetic now, like Fallout.

@tdub154420 The Arkham series wouldn't even exist without WB since Batman is their IP, and Mortal Kombat X and 11 - two MK games WB published - sold more than 25 million copies. That's approximately TEN times as much as the entries prior to WB acquiring the studio.

Or am I missing something?

Also, are you seriously suggesting Ed Boon does whatever WB tell him to do? Do you realise how absurd that claim is... have you ever watched or heard Ed Boon talking about his beloved Mortal Kombat?! He runs the show and makes the decisions. Some work out... and some don't. Netherrealm and Mortal Kombat were in a BAD state prior to MK9 - or do we all just conveniently forget that fact? (They still did OK Mind, I mean Ed wasn't out on the street or anything, but versus the potential? Nowhere near).

@LikelySatan Definitely I miss the 3D Era😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

@nocdaes and MKIX was the high point. The games have gotten progressively sleazier. And not in the way you want an MK game to be sleazy. WB have been some of the worst of the worst, so I say where there's smoke there's fire.

@LikelySatan Again, MKX and MK11 sold 25 million copies! I find it laughable that anyone with a keen interest in videogames, let alone Mortal Kombat itself, can just dismiss that.

I'd be quick to agree that the games since the MK9 reboot have evolved with the times, but that's the industry as a whole... of which "we" as consumers are just as much to blame for.

WB can be credited with many firsts... the first colour movie I believe(!) but games as a service? That's not their creation at all.

Besides, and I cannot emphasise this enough... why is Ed Boon this untouchable deity?! He runs the studio! Of course he is involved in this direction...

Mortal Kombat always feels like a game that comes out to massive hype and is the discounted a month after. I’m guessing the story mode and all that voice acting make it an expensive game to make.

@nocdaes oh no the Arkham series and Netherealm MK were gaming at its finest, and were truly a golden age for WB games. But the issue is WB’s CEO David Zaslav. His recent mission statement was to focus on live service games with microtransactions. WB Games has made some very questionable decisions in the past few years, been absolutely tone deaf to their fan base, and it seems it’s because David Zaslav is steering the ship and is just out to make cash grabs.

Hope those impacted land on their feet.

@nocdaes I'm not dismissing that. I'm talking about what is currently happening and why.
And I blame NRS as well. Didn't say they were above reproach.

@LikelySatan no I know you're not, just meant in general. Agree it's not the same today... but I would argue that's an industry-wide issue. In fact... when have WB Games ever done something industry leading in the videogames space?! They always follow the "pros".

@nocdaes I'd say Arkham Asylum combat (fortunately and unfortunately) but I get your point.

@Jack_Goetz WB absolutely has been a problem regarding the micro transaction BS in the series over the last several games. But don't forget that it's also that WB money that has made them the most insanely lavishly produced fighting games ever made. It's genuinely crazy just how much money has been poured into them for their production values. Like it or not, WB's influence on the series has been both a blessing, and a curse.

That took longer than expected

@JalapenoSpiceLife Jesus christ dude. Human beings just lost their livelihoods today. The people in charge aren’t the ones that suffer from these layoffs. Maybe have some empathy for once?

@tobsesta99 yet they will be the ones who are responsible for ripping off and exploiting Vunrable people of their money as much as possible, which one am I supposed to have sympathy for? 🤦🏾‍♀️

Have some consistency here smh

@JalapenoSpiceLife The people who were actually putting the game together? Programmers and artists and all those people aren’t the ones ripping you off. They’re just putting the game together and WB and NRS higher ups are the ones who force them to implement the terrible micro transactions.

This layoff tells me that lame Mortal Kombat Onslaught mobile game must not had been doing too well. All those money and time should had never been invested in that garbage.

Mobile sector is no loss, now they have to get rid of DEI Teams and than they can go on making true Mortal Kombat not sensitive to imaginative Audiences.