NetherRealm development chief Ed Boon has responded to rumors doing the rounds about the studio’s next game, including reports indicating Injustice 3 is in the works.
Injustice 3 has been heavily rumored for years, but this week, MP1st unearthed evidence to suggest the unannounced fighting game will feature both Supergirl and Batwoman on its roster of playable characters. Supergirl comes as no surprise, given her starring role in the nine-year-old Injustice 2. But Batwoman’s inclusion — assuming it’s true — would mark the debut for the character in the mainline Injustice games.
Boon began by responding to a post from a satirical X / Twitter account that said Netherrealm was “partnering with Insomniac to deliver the first AAAA fighting game.” I’m not sure if Boon realized the post was satire or not, but he responded to say: “100% false. Next rumor please…. ;)”
So, naturally, another person delivered a group of rumors for Boon to respond to: that NetherReal is testing Injustice 3, Mortal Kombat 13, and / or Mortal Kombat 9 right now.
“All false,” Boon replied.
Some took that to cast doubt on the validity of those Injustice 3 rumors, but a later post by Boon suggested it was very much still on.
“Appreciate the interest & enthusiasm,” the Mortal Kombat movie star said. “But just because a game isn’t currently being tested externally doesn’t necessarily mean the game isn’t in development.”
Based on that comment, all Boon is doing here is saying Injustice 3 isn’t being tested externally “right now,” so it may well be in development. All of which leaves us back where we started: with fans waiting for an expected announcement for Injustice 3, perhaps at The Game Awards in December.
Of course, Injustice 3 may not be the game NetherRealm is working on, even though it’s already appeared on a number of staff resumes. It might have a different name but essentially be another Injustice game. Perhaps it’s tied into the ongoing DC Universe (James Gunn has said he visits Warner Bros. game studios to check out what they’re working on). Maybe it’s the start of a new DC fighting game series.
In 2025, Gunn and fellow DC Studios co-CEO Safran said it will be “a couple of years” before fans get their hands on the first DCU games. Safran said the pair have been hands-on when it comes to new projects at studios like NetherRealm and Arkham developer Rocksteady as they steer DC in a fresh direction.
“We see designs for the projects in their very earliest stages,” Gunn added at the time. “We talk about those. We talk about when they’re talking about what the story might be, we say, ‘Well, maybe you want to go this way because we’re planning on maybe doing something with this character and so forth and so on,’ and help to deal with that.”
Or maybe Ed Boon is just trolling once again (he has a habit of doing this on social media), and his posts are part of some clever misdirection. My money’s on the simplest, most obvious answer being true: NetherRealm’s next game is Injustice 3 and it won’t be long before it’s announced.
Wesley Yin-Poole
Director, News
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
