Mortal Kombat set for 360, PS3 in 2011

It's been almost exactly a year since Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon first promised that the next installment in the violent fighting game franchise would receive an M-for-Mature rating after a T-for-Teen crossover with DC Universe characters. Today, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment officially announced that project, simply called Mortal Kombat, will arrive in 2011 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

In announcing the game, the publisher played up its level of violence. WBIE president Martin Tremblay referred to the game as "reestablishing the brand" and Boon was quoted as promising the "most gruesome fatalities ever." That emphasis on violence was also reflected in a live-action teaser for a possible new Mortal Kombat movie that debuted earlier this week.

Beyond the series' signature gore, Mortal Kombat will also feature tag-team fighting gameplay. Gamers will be able to take their favorite pugilistic pairs online to compete against friends or put aside their differences and play through the game's new cooperative Arcade mode.

As always, Boon is shepherding the creation of the new Mortal Kombat, but the development team behind the game has a new name: NetherRealm Studios. A reference to the home of Mortal Kombat series antagonist Shao Kahn, the name reflects Boon's virtual tunnel vision on the franchise. Since the original Mortal Kombat debuted in arcades in 1992, Boon has worked almost exclusively on the fighter, with his most notable side project being the 2001 arcade shooter The Grid.