When Mortal Kombat X concluded its story, we left Raiden in a state of compromise after his efforts to purify Earthrealm's Jinsei spirit. The corruption wrought by Shinnok saw the fallen Elder God reduced to a severed head in Raiden's hand, delivered to the Netherrealm. In the Mortal Kombat 11 Prologue Trailer, we learn more about what happened -- and the consequences it will have!

As fans look ahead to the future for Mortal Kombat and its upcoming Kombat Pack 2 -- series head Ed Boon has commented on the long term possibilities of new downloadable content.

Speaking to Shacknews at The Game Awards; Boon acknowledged the popular request for Story Mode DLC, revealing it has been discussed by the studio: "It's a lot of data, a lot of content, but that's absolutely part of a long-term plan. People really tend to love our story modes, so to be able to give them new content is always something we're hoping to work out."

Editor's Note: This answer should not be confused with a promise of DLC coming in the immediate future. With demands of content high and inconsistent around the world, its unclear if intent is for this game, this hardware generation, or the next.

As The Kombat Pack makes preparations to unleash its first downloadable guest fighter [Jason] -- many fans are asking questions about the non-playable characters already included in Mortal Kombat X.

Several series favourites appear in cameo & playable forms during the featured story mode, dangling completely rendered character models in front of a rabid fanbase. Fighters such as Rain, Baraka & Tanya can be battled in the mode, possessing simplified move lists devoid of the Character Variations that make Mortal Kombat X stand apart.

PC versions of Mortal Kombat X have opened the game up to greater scrutiny than ever before. Eurogamer reports one modder's efforts to make NPCs playable with a very simple alteration to existing fighter code. XVermillion explained his method on Reddit [below].

Mortal Kombat X is less than two weeks away - but if that's still too long to wait, IGN have a 25 minute preview of the story mode. Note: The preview is a walkthrough of Chapter 1 and will contain extensive spoilers! Continue at your own risk:

You've met the The Cage Family, now it's time to welcome back Jax and his daughter Jacqui in the official Briggs Family Trailer!

System of a Down multi-instrumentalist and video director Shavo Odadjian is joining the team behind Mortal Kombat X to compose a special launch trailer debuting April 6th! Enter the editing suite in the special sneak peek below:

Mokap won't be coming back in Mortal Kombat X -- but the art of motion capture continues to fuel escalating next generation technology that brings the action to life! Following their Kombat Kast spotlight - NetherRealm Studios offer a glimpse behind the wireframes of Chapter 1.

This year's Game Developers Conference saw the unveiling of Mortal Kombat X's all new Story Mode, and the fighting return of Johnny Cage! The Earthrealm Champion features in a slew of new screenshots coming out of the event.

The Mortal Kombat X story has been on show over the past few weeks. Be prepared to learn more when NetherRealm Studios go live later today on Twitch! The stream is scheduled to begin at 3:00PM CST and will feature more plot from the 25 year epic! Be on Mortal Kombat Online to immortalize all your reactions to all the action on the forum:

During last week's Game Developers Conference, various press members were granted a hands-on preview with Mortal Kombat X and the first chapter of its exciting new Story Mode! Early word revealed Kenshi & Johnny Cage's playable involvement but with embargoes lifted, new details are flooding in from all sides!

Character speculation will be one of the last topics to die, especially with downloadable content beyond the horizon! Polygon has one of the best previews, revealing the ambitious scope of the game that awaits: "There are battles with hundreds of non-player characters and Mortal Kombat cameos, Urbano said, on a scale that NetherRealm just couldn't pull off before."

Among the "hundreds" of cameos are some expected returns. Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Kenshi, Raiden & Fujin reportedly lead the fight for the home team, while undead revenants of Jax, Sindel, Stryker, Kabal & Smoke battle under the control of Quan Chi. This continues the plot initiated during the last game, where the defeated warriors' souls were seized in the Netherrealm. IGN notes an appearance by Nightwolf, who was also among the dead fighters, as well.

It's the Netherrealm's invasion that is the subject of story mode's opening chapter. This refers to the expected continuation of the new timeline, revisiting the original plot of MK4. We saw glimpses of invading villain Shinnok and his struggle with the heroes in the Story Mode Trailer and again in the Cage Family Trailer. According to IGN, Shinnok is the final battle of Chapter 1.

No one has been able to distinguish the playable roster from the story mode cameos. Shinnok and Jax both appeared in one-on-one fights - each with 3 variations, according to Hardcore Gamers. IGN notes, "We have no idea yet, but there are a bunch more slots on the character select screen that need to be filled..." Polygon adds, "... we did see a couple of unannounced playable fighters, including Erron Black, in the game's attract mode."

Migrating from challenge modes in Mortal Kombat (2011) and Injustice: Gods Among Us into the story are "quick time events". Simple inputs determine the outcome of conflict that doesn't fit into traditional side-to-side kombat. GameInformer have a particularly evocative description of their experience, which explains the continuing sequence involving Johnny Cage and a notably heroic Kenshi:

"They’re en route to Raiden’s Sky Temple, where the lightning god is making a last stand against Shinnok’s forces. Whirring over the on-the-ground action sounds like a pretty great plan until the windshield is pierced by another familiar sight: Scorpion’s chain-blade. The soldiers in the back of the helicopter look around frantically, when Scorpion surprises the crew by appearing in the rear of the aircraft. There’s a battle, of course, and I’m paying such close attention to it all that I miss an unexpected quick-time event. It doesn’t kick me out to a game-over screen, but the action immediately shifts to show Johnny Cage blowing a series of blocks and taking damage. I do a better job of keeping up over the next few sequences, and Johnny reverses the course of the fight. He more than holds his own until Sub-Zero joins the party, freezing a couple of attackers’ heads and shattering them against each other."