It all depends entirely on the engine they use. MKX used Unreal Engine 3, which was pretty dated when compared to UE4 being the standard for several years already. Chances are, they will switch to UE4 for MKXI.

MK 2011 was a "stepping stone" for Netherrealm. It used Unreal Engine 3 at the end of the PS3/XBox 360 generation. The graphics were cartoonish, even though they were quite polished and nice looking. Injustice used the same type of graphical appearance, but was noticeably smoother and even more polished...it looked better than MK 2011 and marked the final foray into that generation of consoles.

They pulled out the stops for MKX and went for a darker, grittier and more realistic look. They continued to use Unreal Engine 3, despite the fact that Unreal Engine 4 was already in full swing.
Despite using the considerably dated technology, the game looked amazing. It pushed UE3 to its limits. Some complained that it still wasn't "good enough" but I thought it was a remarkable step forward. The character renderings, cinematics and overall appearance of the game was worlds ahead of its predecessor (though that was more the tech, not the engine).

Injustice 2 used the MKX formula and improved upon it. It also used the same dated UE3 technology. So, once again, MK was experimental and Injustice was the product of the team working with something they were now highly proficient with, as we could see from the even better cinematics.

Looking toward the upcoming E3 announcement, MKXI marks the first time that Mortal Kombat will have two consecutive releases on the same generation of console since the 3d era. Armageddon was the last MK game in 2007 before the 2011 reboot, and that reboot came so late into the PS3/360 generation that it was truly an experiment - both with the tech and the UE3 engine.

I firmly believe that MKX will utilize UE4. My worry with this is that the team, although highly proficient with UE3, will have to dig in and learn UE4. They will undoubtedly push the console tech to its limits, but with an upgraded engine to work with, MKXI may yet wind up the next "experiment" for NRS, with Injustice 3 receiving the true polish and expert handling in 2021.

Goof stuff frabn, lot’s of good info right there. Mortal Kombat is Netherrealm’s baby and they’re going to want this thing to look and play as flawless as humanly possible. Unreal Engine 4 is most certainly going to be the engine this game is built on and I can’t wait to see the results. With Netherrealm’s terrific track record since being purchased by WB, you can bet they will get quite the budget. I don’t want to get my hopes up too high, but I’m expecting greatness with MK11.