Today's annual announcement for the Summer Evo World Championship has stunned fans with the shock omission of Mortal Kombat 11! The nine game lineup features an eclectic mix of tournament fighting games, but the most recent NetherRealm Studios title wasn't among them. Read on:

Not even a year old; Mortal Kombat 11 was expected to join other current iterations of the major fighting game franchises for a second year of competition. Instead, the lineup will feature a string of returning contemporary titles, and 2000's Marvel vs Capcom 2, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the event.

There was much fanfare when the Mortal Kombat reboot first brought the series into Evo contention in 2011. The admission began a nine year streak for NetherRealm Studios, who replenished their presence with regular installments of the Injustice and Mortal Kombat franchises.

Award winning eSports competitor Sonic Fox took last year's crown, defeating recurring arch-rival Dragon as part of the MK11 Pro Kompetition. The title was his third Mortal Kombat Evo World Championship, having dominated Mortal Kombat X in previous years.

Fully understanding the omission of Mortal Kombat 11 will take time. Announced seventh in last year's schedule, MK11 attracted a respectable turnout of 1,567 registered players, ranking fifth ahead of Dragon Ball FighterZ (1,191), Soul Calibur VI (742), and BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (640). A meagre 362 players separated the game from rival Street Fighter V, but all games were wildly outpaced by Nintendo's uniquely accessible genre-buster Super Smash Bros Ultimate, which hosted a staggering 3,492 competitors.

Mortal Kombat die hards won't be starved for a place to compete. A total prize purse of $100,000 will be on offer this March at the recently announced Final Kombat. The event will be a culmination of the MK11 Pro Kompetition, with a Saturday tournament offering registrants a chance to compete in the final 16 event on Sunday.

What do you think of Mortal Kombat's shock exit from the Evo World Championship? Take us for a ride in the comments with your reactions and speculation and find more discussion in the Mortal Kombat 11 forum!

The original arcade release of Mortal Kombat is fondly remembered by many fans, but a noteable section of its global success can also be attributed to home ports. Digital Foundry has gone in-depth with sixteen versions of the 1992 klassic to examine their quirks and differences. Watch:

The almost hour long documentary is a nostalgic look back at the original entry in the series, and its sometimes bumpy transition to the market's many home platforms. Much of the story will be familiar to fans, but Digital Foundry's exhaustive dedication to demonstrating and comparing the technical specifications of each version sets this apart from most retrospectives. Everything from sprites, gameplay, and music are vividly dissected across Sega, Nintendo, PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and even pirated platforms!

Digital Foundry also shared a nice photograph (via Twitter) of the Mortal Monday wine released to commemorate the 1993 home release. The wine makes a brief appearance during the video and is one of the rare PR curiosities from the period.

Interest in the original Mortal Kombat was recently piqued with news of Warner Bros UK submitting Mortal Kombat Kollection Online fpr rating by PEGI. Rather than a straight re-release of the original game as in Mortal Kombat: Arcade Kollection, the unconfirmed title is speculated to be the once-cancelled high definition remake that would've created sprites from newly photographed actors.

Surprised by soemthing you saw in the video? Which klassic version of Mortal Kombat do you consider the best? Share your favourite tidbits in the comments below and steep yourself in nostalgia in the 2D Kombat Klassics forum!

Takahashi Takeda was one of the exciting new generation of fighters introduced in Mortal Kombat X, and although he's sadly missing from the latest installment of the game, kommunity interest has propped up a commisioned piece by Japanese artist Eiji Shiroi that is sure to please!

Eiji Shiroi is the pseudonym of artist Jin Mera, whose artwork and character designs are best remembered from SNK fighting game series Samurai Shodown.

The Mortal Kombat commissioned piece was originally posted to her English Facebook in August 2017, but recently came to attention through re-circulation by Twitter user Mel Oliveira. Drawn at a live event in Nagoya, the artist herself described the request as "very unique".

Although not quite the phenomenon it is in the United States and Europe; Mortal Kombat has maintained a dedicated cult following in the fighting game stronghold of Japan. MK Online looked back upon the series' history in Japan in 2012, when location tests took the 2011 reboot to the region. The series continues to flirt with its Japanese rivals, proposing a Street Fighter guest character as recently as Mortal Kombat 11!

2012 also unearthed an unknown artist's work featuring Quan Chi in noted Akihabra store, Super Potato. You can find more western character comissions by Eiji Shiroi by checking her work out on Facebook.

What do you think of these Japanese renderings? Got Mortal Kombat fan art of your own? Submit your work to be featured in MK Online's Fan Kreations archive & forum! We'd love to see more from the most recent games!

The Mortal Kombat 11 Pro Kompetition is finally set to culminate with Final Kombat 2020! The Top 16 final challenge will take place in Chicago this March. Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment and NetherRealm Studios have announced a massive lineup for the festivities, including special celebrity guests and a final chance qualifier tournament. Watch the trailer and read on for details:

Final Kombat will emanate from the historic Park West Theater in Chicago on Sunday, March 8th, but not before the Last Chance Qualifier is decided with a tournament on Saturday, held at the Ignite Gaming Lounge of Skokie, Illinois. Tickets are on sale now via Eventbrite: $21.62 for General Attendance, or $39.66 for the Last Chance Qualifier.

Final 16 competitors will do battle for their share of a $100, 000 prize pool, featuring players from around the world: America's SonicFox, Dragon, NinjaKilla_212, Deoxys, Rewind, Scar, Tweedy, and Semij, the United Kingdom's A F0xy Grampa and DizzyTT, Canada's Hayatei and D2-Stabs, the enigmatic Tekken Master of Bahrain, Nivek of Greece, and Konqueror249 from Brazil!

Also in attendance will be celebrity guests: Todd McFarlane, voice of Spawn Keith David, and the personficiation of Shang Tsung Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, digital artist BossLogic, cosplay designer Alicia Marie, and more! Mortal Kombat Online staffers Scott-Howell and FatalKade will also be in attendance!

The Sunady event will also reveal the first look at a Mortal Kombat 11 gameplay trailer for Spawn and the R rated red band trailer for upcoming animated feature Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge! Will you be there in attendance? Tell us all about it in the comments below and join the kommunity in the Mortal Kombat 11 forum!

Warner Bros Home Entertainment has officially released full details for the upcoming digital and home media release of Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge. The multi-format rollout begins mid-April with bonus content from the games and animation. Read on for box art and details:

Digital release for Scorpion's Revenge begins April 12th in high and standard definitions on various platforms, including Amazon, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, PlayStation, Vudu, Xbox, and Movies Anywhere. The animated feature will then be made available to select video on demand streaming services from cable & satellite providers starting April 28th.

April 28th is also the official street date for home media release. Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge will be available in combo packs for 4K Ultra HD Combo ($39.99 SRP; Ultra HD Blu-Ray + Blu-Ray + digital), Blu-Ray ($24.98 SRP; Blu-Ray + digital), and DVD ($19.98 SRP). Disc copies will include a robust offering of extra content that should interest gamers and animation fans alike:

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge Special Features:
• From Epic Game to Extreme Animation – Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon and the filmmakers reveal the creative process behind adapting the best-selling game to an all-new animated film.
• The Weapons, Wardrobe and World of “Mortal Kombat Legends” – The artists reveal the design challenges of animating the world of Mortal Kombat, from authentic armor to wildly imaginative weapons and fantasy settings.
• The Savage Sound Design of “Mortal Kombat Legends” – This hard-hitting audio exploration reveals the art of designing the sonic language of the fight scenes.
• Mortal Kombatants – Dive deep inside the cast of characters to reveal their unique abilities, signature moves and backstories.
• Filmmaker Commentary – Producer Rick Morales and screenwriter Jeremy Adams sit down for an insightful audio commentary that reveals the process of creating a compelling animated film based on one of today’s most popular fighting games.
• Language Options – English, Spanish, French, German (Blu-Ray), Portuguese (DVD)

Early impressions indicate a highly faithful adaptation of the plot and characters from the games, with character designs literally taken from Mortal Kombat X! Watch the Mortal Kombat Legends Trailer to get the first glimpse of the action-packed R rated feature that spotlights Shang Tsung's Mortal Kombat tournament and jump into the Media & Merchandise forum for more!