The Mortal Kombat character Johnny Cage is very heavily inspired by real-world action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, to the extent that Cage's original appearance is basically a direct lift from the seminal JCVD flick Bloodsport. It took more than 30 years, but now the Mortal Kombat universe finally has the real deal: The Muscles from Brussels will be available as an optional skin for Johnny Cage in the upcoming Mortal Kombat 1.
Mortal Kombat 1's Ed Boon 'Absolutely' Wants to Make Something Different
23.08.2023 - 07:17 / ign.com / Ed Boon
Ed Boon is inarguably an industry legend, with a career that spans more than 30 years that includes the creation of one of the most influential fighting games of all time, Mortal Kombat. His team's latest, Mortal Kombat 1, is essentially a reboot of the series, refreshing its beloved characters with new origin stories, new looks, and sometimes even completely new identities.
But despite how much Mortal Kombat may change, certain things always remain the same: conversations about the game's penchant for violence, critique of its animations, and the difficulty with which streamers and content creators have monetizing their content. At a recent event in Chicago, I managed to ask Boon a handful of questions surrounding these topics, along with the upcoming Mortal Kombat 2 movie, how NetherRealm avoids fighting game burnout, and more.
IGN: You've been predominantly making fighting games for the better part of 30 years at this point. Do you ever feel fighting game burnout, and do you have any desire to do something different with the Mortal Kombat franchise or any franchise?
Ed Boon, Chief Creative Officer at NetherRealm Studios: To the second question: I absolutely have desire to do something different. Surprisingly, I don't feel burnout just because we've been trying new stuff with each game. Sometimes it's something as minor as like a side game of Puzzle Kombat, Konquest, all these kind of modes and now, Invasions. So those game features and game modes I think for our studio keep things kind of fresh while we still do the core mechanic of a fighting game in online, single player story, all that stuff.
IGN: I know that violence is intrinsically tied to Mortal Kombat, but with how important influencers, content creators, and streamers have become to video games and how difficult it's become to monetize Mortal Kombat content, does that give you any thought about any kind of streamer safe mode that kind of cuts around or limits the blood and gore?
Ed Boon: Yeah, it does. The dilemma, I don't know if I'd call it dilemma, but the thing that I think about is, let's say we had a mode that turned off all the blood or something or didn't have fatalities or something like that. Part of it is... part of the definition of Mortal Kombat is those things. And so to strip away an entire layer of it, do we really want that to be the main representation that is of the game online? It's not the whole presentation. Now, granted to me it's not like, "Okay, so that's a deal breaker. We're never going to do it." I'm always trying to think what can we do to keep the spirit of what the game is, but also allow streamers, because I'm fully aware of streamers, to show the game and make content based on the game. I think that's the
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ign.com
08.09.2023 / 17:45
Mortal Kombat 1's Latest Trailer Shows Off Jean Claude Van Damme
After sharing a sneak peek during a recent episode of Hot Ones featuring Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon, Netherrealm Studios has released a new trailer today spotlighting the Jean-Claude Van Damme skin in Mortal Kombat 1.
videogameschronicle.com
08.09.2023 / 15:13
Mortal Kombat 1’s official Jean-Claude Van Damme trailer has been released
Warner Bros. Games has released a new Mortal Kombat 1 trailer featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
ign.com
07.09.2023 / 23:37
Mortal Kombat 1's Jean-Claude Van Damme Skin Shown Off During Ed Boon's Hot Ones Interview
Ed Boon, the co-creator of Mortal Kombat, brought the heat on a Sept. 7 episode of Hot Ones during a conversation about Mortal Kombat 1, showing off the first look at Johnny Cage's Jean-Claude Van Damme skin.
gamesradar.com
07.09.2023 / 21:21
Mortal Kombat 1 reveals Jean-Claude Van Damme's Johnny Cage skin as series head Ed Boon suffers a spicy wings fatality
Mortal Kombat 1 has finally revealed the Jean-Claude Van Damme Johnny Cage skin that was always meant to be, and it's come at the expense of series head Ed Boon and his poor, torched taste buds.
gameranx.com
07.09.2023 / 20:15
Ed Boon Talks and Shows Off JCVD Skin In Mortal Kombat 1
Mortal Kombat 1 has been on a roll since it started dropping teases and trailers left and right. With each one, we get a new look at the new world Liu Kang has created, and it’s an intriguing one, to say the least. However, that’s not the only thing people have noticed about the upcoming title. It’s clear to many that NetherRealm Studios isn’t just bringing in classic Kombatants to fight, but they’re trying hard to get some big-name celebrities of both the voice-acting community and Hollywood proper to help out. One such big name is Jean-Claude Van Damme.
thegamer.com
07.09.2023 / 19:31
Mortal Kombat 1 Shows First Look At Jean-Claude Van Damme Skin
Mortal Kombat fans will know that NetherRealm has been trying to get Jean-Claude Van Damme in an MK game foir quite some time, ever since the series first launched way back in the 90s in fact. Mortal Kombat 1 will finally achieve that ambitious goal thanks to its Van Damme DLC skin for Johnny Cage, which we've now been given our first look at in a new interview with series creator Ed Boon.
gameinformer.com
07.09.2023 / 19:03
Ed Boon Talks Mortal Kombat 1 On Hot Ones With First Look At Jean-Claude Van Damme Skin
Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon made an unexpected appearance on the popular interview show Hot Ones to talk about Mortal Kombat 1 and the series as a whole. As Boon sweats through increasingly spicy wings, we also get a glimpse at the previously announced Jean-Claude Van Damme skin for Johnny Cage.
techradar.com
07.09.2023 / 10:43
Megan Fox joins Mortal Kombat 1 roster as the voice and face of Nitara
Exciting news for anyone who’s ever wanted to see if Megan Fox could take on Johnny Cage or Kitana in a fight: it’s been confirmed that the American actress is joining the Mortal Kombat 1 roster as the face and voice of the fierce vampiric fighter, Nitara.
thegamer.com
07.09.2023 / 10:27
Mortal Kombat Fans Want Nitara's "Pirate" Look In MK1
Mortal Kombat fans are happy to see Nitara finally return after 17 years, but they're a little more mixed on her new design and want the "pirate" look from the 3D era to make a comeback.
gamepur.com
07.09.2023 / 05:45
Megan Fox is Looking to Add Some Bite to Mortal Kombat 1
It’s not every day that you get a legacy character from the Deadly Alliance trilogy. NetherRealm Games, and specifically Ed Boon, is known for creating and dumping characters as each new game releases, but it’s looking like they’re making amends with their upcoming title. We’ve already seen the return of Shujinko as a Kameo character, and rumors of other familiar characters are making the rounds on the internet. Will the Fire God Liu Kang find it in his heart to remake some of the more forgettable characters into powerhouses in his new world?
ign.com
06.09.2023 / 22:43
Nitara Is Joining Mortal Kombat 1, and She's Played by Megan Fox
Megan Fox is the voice of the vampire Nitara in the upcoming Mortal Kombat 1, and NetherRealm Studios has shared a new trailer to unveil the roster's latest playable fighter.