There are quite a few rumors that missing MK characters would make their way to the game in the future. That hope seems to have been dashed, however, leaving the question of where NRS and WB go next.

Originally, many fans, including myself, thought NRS's next game would be another MK game. It makes sense: the series sells well (way more than Injustice), the game's Kameo System, while controversial for more casual players, opened up a lot of gameplay opportunities that were missing in MK11, and the game's roster had a good mix of 3D era characters, like Ashrah, Havik, Li Mei, and Reiko, combined with legacy fan-favorites, like Scorpion and Sub-Zero. Now that Injustice 3 is on the table, I'm not that excited, but I would be if it made one huge change.

Injustice 3 Needs To Focus On Its Gameplay

The Zoning Meta Has Got To Go

Injustice: Gods Among Us and Injustice 2 were very similar in style and gameplay. Unlike the MK series, which seems to redefine itself with every new entry, Injustice has been treated as a "legacy" series, with most of the gameplay, characters, and game design being mostly the same across both titles, just slightly tweaked. Batman still looks and plays like Batman in Injustice 2, unlike how MK11 Sindel's story and gameplay drastically changed in MK1, for example.

One of my biggest complaints with Injustice has always been its heavier focus on zoning and projectiles than on any other fighting style. Almost every character in Injustice 2 has a projectile or zoning tool, and characters like Starfire and Deadshot dominated a lot of the tournament scenes for the game, because there was barely any counter-play to the oppressive projectiles. Injustice 2 added forward and backward rolls to attempt to combat players standing on the edge of the stage and spamming projectiles, but they weren't strong and barely saw any use.

MK1 and MK10 have been the only NRS games not to favor zoning tactics.

I do agree that it may be time for NRS to take a break from MK, especially with how many fans criticized MK1's story changes and its lack of single-player content at launch. MK1 did get much better, however, to a point where I'd now consider it a great game. One of its biggest strengths is the variety in its gameplay. MK1 and MK10 are the only NRS games not to favor zoning tactics, and every character feels unique. That cannot be said about Injustice 2's roster, so toning down the zoning (or at least making projectiles clash) and turning the series on its head might be the right move.

Injustice 3 Has The Source Material To Be A Great Game

But It's All About The Execution

The Injustice series has a great premise, and Injustice 2's gear system added a layer of customization that was unprecedented for an NRS game. Who doesn't want to play their favorite DC Comics superhero or watch an epic superhero story with teams of superheroes clashing based on different ideologies and values? There are so many characters, storylines, locations, and costume designs across the multi-decade DC Comics history that the creative possibilities and depth of ideas are almost endless for Injustice.

MK11 and MK1 brought back Injustice 2's gear system, but it was in a reduced capacity, to many fans' disappointment.

Injustice: Gods Among Us and Injustice 2 both have good storylines, even though the multiverse angle has been played out to death at this point. The gear system brought hours and hours of single-player grinding and farming for new pieces of gear to customize characters. Injustice 2's unique RPG-like stat system was an interesting innovation, though quite frustrating at times for a fighting game, in my opinion. On paper, it would seem like this series would be a home run for NRS and WB, but the studio has struggled to bring it all together in the gameplay department.

Injustice has tried its best to distinguish itself from MK by requiring holding back to block like most fighting games (MK has a block input), featuring one continuous round of play with each character having two life bars to act as "rounds," highlighting epic stage transitions, and more. On the other hand, it also has a lot of reused gameplay assets and ideas from MK, like the dial-a-combo system being almost identical in both series and General Shao in MK1 reusing several moves from Ares in Injustice 1. Injustice 3 is the time to fully break away from MK and create a fully unique identity.

A Lot Is Riding On Injustice 3 After Mortal Kombat 1

The Heavy Criticism Of Some Aspects Of MK1 Are Going To Be Hard To Overcome

No matter what game follows MK1, it is going to have a lot going against it. MK1 was heavily criticized for its microtransactions, removal of the iconic Krypt feature, its lackluster Invasions mode, and its story. The game was planned to be ed longer, but was cut short due to the Khaos Reigns expansion not performing well, allegedly. That being said, in my opinion, MK1 is still the most fun game NRS has ever made, but a large portion of the broader community feels differently.

Like clockwork, every NRS game seems to have a huge issue that plagues it throughout its life. MK9's netcode, negative edge inputs, and animations were criticized. Injustice 1 and MK10 both had online issues, and while the XL update for MK10 and the introduction of rollback netcode helped to fix things, that was near the end of that game's life. Injustice 2 and MK11 were criticized for their reliance on grinding and random loot drops. I believe the gameplay should always come first in a fighting game, and that was a place where MK1 excelled and Injustice 2 (and even MK11) struggled.

Warner Bros. Games has reiterated its focus on just a few franchises now, after the successes of Mortal Kombat and Hogwarts Legacy and the failures of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and MultiVersus. Injustice seems to be in the middle of those two spectrums. Injustice 2 reportedly sold 1.5 million copies in its first three months, but its sales data has been murky since then. MK1 has sold over five million copies since January this year, so even surrounded by controversy, MK still seems to have more pulling power.

As a part of a WB earnings call, CEO David Zaslav itted the gaming side of WB was struggling, and it was committed to focusing on just four franchises moving forward: Mortal Kombat, Batman, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones. Injustice was not mentioned by name. A transcript of the meeting was reported by Insider Gaming.

Injustice 3 can achieve those levels of success. To do so, however, it needs to bring the customization of Injustice 2, throw it in a melting pot with the gameplay styles of MK10 and MK1, and mix it all together to establish a new identity. It remains to be seen if Injustice 3 is actually NRS's next project, but if it is, I'll be looking at its gameplay first and foremost. If it's different from the previous two Injustice games, I'll be leaning forward.