Report: Mortal Kombat studio NetherRealm lays off mobile team

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Warner Bros. Games-owned Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm has laid off its mobile games development team, according to reports on social media.

As spotted by TechRaptor and ResetEra, a QA analyst at the firm claimed on LinkedIn that the mobile division was shut down, leaving employees out of work. The team had been at work on titles including Mortal Kombat Mobile, Injustice 2 and Mortal Kombat Onslaught.

Other team members have corroborated the claims on social media, stating they had been laid off by the company. Insider Gaming reports that at least 50 staff were impacted by the move.

NetherRealm has yet to make a public statement on the story. We have reached out for comment.

Declining revenue

According to AppMagic, Mortal Kombat Mobile has generated $245.3 million in gross revenue to date ($171.7m net) since its launch in 2015. So far in 2024, it has accumulated $8.2m from gross player spending ($5.8m net).

Injustice 2, meanwhile, has picked up $122.8m in gross revenue ($86m net) since its 2017 release on mobile. Mortal Kombat Onslaught, which launched on mobile in October 2023 has generated $3.3m in gross revenue to date ($2.3m net).

Warner Bros. games studios have seen mixed results from key titles launched during the past couple of years. Warner Bros, Discovery said it took a $200 million loss on Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League during an earnings call in May. Meanwhile, Hogwarts Legacy reportedly sold 24 million copies and broke $1 billion in revenue.

Layoffs at the NetherRealm mobile team following a string of redundancies in the games industry over the past couple of years.

Recent redundancies include Axis Studios axing 160 staff after going into administration, Gameloft Toronto cutting 49 employees, and Perfect World reportedly laying off as many as 1,000 workers.