It's still three months until the official release of Mortal Kombat 1, but the developer will be getting prepared for the fight ahead with an Online Stress Test beginning next week. Like the Shaolin Tournament itself, it's invitation only. Read on for details:

Not to be confused with a Beta Test of the game; the MK1 Online Stress Test will begin Friday, June 23rd at 8:00AM PT and run throughout the weekend until 8AM Monday morning. The test is intended to begin stressing online infrastructure to expose problems well in advance of the full release.

You'll need a WB Games Account to join the Stress Test sign-up pool, which will enter you into the draw to receive a redeemable invitation download code via e-mail on June 21st.

Eligibility is limited to players on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles, located in "North America, Latin America, Brazil, and Europe". PS Plus and Xbox Gold Live are not required to participate, but of course, an internet connection is. The test will feature a limited Mortal Kombat 1 build testing 1v1 online, and limited Klassic Tower. Cross-console play is not part of the test.

This could be your first chance to get hands-on with the game. Did you submit? Were you chosen? Share your fate with us in the comments below and keep the conversation & speculation going in the Mortal Kombat 1 forum!

Knowing who your opponent is, and what you're fighting for, are pretty important aspects of any battle -- and Mortal Kombat 1 is continuing in the tradition of setting up each and every fight with a dialogue exchange between characters. Watch all the intros from the recent demo:

GameSpot has featured all the opening discussion between fighters from the four-character demo build that was recently showcased at Summer Game Fest. The battlelines are drawn in smack talk between Liu Kang, Kitana, Kenshi, and Sub-Zero as they go head-to-head at the character select screen, before stepping back right into the action!

Pre-fight dialogues establish mood, character, and tell us some interesting extra details about the fighters and world of the franchise. It's a little extra colour to set the stage for gameplay, and we really do learn a few interesting little tidbits & teasers from the limited demo.

We already suspected it would be Bi-Han under the Sub-Zero mask, given Mortal Kombat 1 is going back to the beginning, and Liu Kang confirms that fact as he faces-off with the elder of two brothers. Could this mean the younger Kuai Liang will make an appearance in the guise of Tundra?

It seems Kenshi is hiding a secret Sub-Zero knows, while the Lin Kuei have fallen into old habits, with Bi-Han confirming they've shed noble causes in favour of self-serving. Could Kenshi's secret have something to do with his war on the underworld?

Whatever the sword saint is up to in this new timeline will apparently blind him over the course of a new story mode -- and according to Kitana he isn't the first blind swordsman. She's got bigger things to worry about according to Liu Kang, though. He warns her to keep Countess Jade close -- privileged knowledge of history repeating from the previous timeline?

Ed Boon confirmed in an interview with Gamertag Radio that the Fire God will be using the knowledge gained from Mortal Kombat (2011) to Mortal Kombat 11 to steer his actions in the newly created reality of Mortal Kombat 1. Will it all go horribly wrong like it did for his predecessor? A question we'll be asking as we anticipate more from the new game.

[Related Articles: Mortal Kombat 1 Gameplay Trailer Reveals Plot & Characters]

Mortal Kombat 1 is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and PC on September 19th, with early access available to Premium & Kollector's Edition owners. Never get lost in time by downloading the MKO App via the App Store or Google Play and using the calendar.

How far will these juicy little dialogue details go? Share your thoughts in the comments below and find & discuss more in the Mortal Kombat 1 forum! Special thanks to MKO user Shinnokxz for submitting material.

Mortal Kombat 1 unfolds as a new reality in first previews for the new story mode and gameplay. Summer Game Fest was not coy with its main event attraction -- delivering the world premiere with an extended trailer and presentation by Ed Boon. Watch the official trailer now:

A youthful Kung Lao faces off with Sub-Zero in a Chinese restaurant, while Johnny Cage finds his swish Hollywood mansion invaded by a suited (and sighted) Kenshi. It's all part of the subdued new reality of Mortal Kombat 1 -- and our first look at the new fighting game engine. The preview showcases the fluid relationship between fights and story as Fire God Liu Kang gathers champions, including in-game opponent Scorpion, and a young Shaolin fighter answering to Raiden.

Lush background environments are back as kombat evolves with flourishes of familiar fist & kick fighting, special moves, and Kameo Fighters that dart in and out of the battle to assist in delivering bone crunching kombos. Klassically inspired kameo fighters include Jax, Sonya Blade, Kano, Goro, and Stryker in designs that remind us of the arcade klassics as MK celebrates thirty years of fatalities.

There were plenty of blood & guts on display as fighters were carved, dismembered, decapitated, and generally put through the ringer, including a heart rip finisher from a klassic styled Kano.

In this world Scorpion and Sub-Zero are apparently brothers, and Kitana & Mileena are bound by their own brand of sisterhood, bu it seems this time Mileena has a throne to be covetted, and a toothy new design that comes with a disease -- real or imagined.

[Related Article: Mortal Kombat 1 Announcement Trailer Remakes Universe]

Mortal Kombat 1 is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and PC on September 19th, with early access available to Premium & Kollector's Edition owners. Save both dates by downloading the MKO App via the App Store or Google Play and using the calendar.

It's Fire God Liu Kang's reality now and we're just living in it. What did you think of the first-look at gameplay, characters, and the strange new world of MK's third timeline? Leave your reactions in the comments below and discuss more in the Mortal Kombat 1 forum!

Our first look at gameplay from Mortal Kombat 1 is just days away as part of a world premiere reveal at the upcoming Summer Game Fest, but that doesn't mean Ed Boon isn't letting a few tasty morsels of info out to whet our appetites. The Chief Creative Officer teased returning characters and moves in a series of tweets hyping up the coming reveal.

Tearing attention away from the freshly released, forward-thinking Street Fighter 6 is no mean feat, but Boon is giving MK fans plenty to chew on as they scramble to decipher hidden meanings from a Mortal Kombat 1 announce trailer that may've got some looking a little farther back into the series' thirty-year history than is necessary.

The title of the twelfth core installment may sound like its returning to the roots of the first Mortal Kombat, but in a quoted tweet replying to Summer Game Fest host Geoff Keighley, who hyped "Ed Boon 'bout to blow the roof off the YouTube Theater on Thursday", the MK1 head referenced "Kameos & Kombos & Breakers" -- Breakers being a defensive move that made their debut in Mortal Kombat: Deception.

He also used the Mortal Kombat 4 character select screen to tease fans with the prospect of some returning favourites from the transitional 1997 arcade fighter: "Some making their way back into action.."

Some making their way back into action.. ???? pic.twitter.com/WtnKOlxmTK

— Ed Boon (@noobde) June 6, 2023

Arch-villains Shinnok and Quan Chi reprised major roles in Mortal Kombat X, and appear to factor into the soon to release story-driven mobile RPG Mortal Kombat: Onslaught. They also had major roles in the prequel spin-off Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, which established pre-MK lore leading up to the Shaolin tournament and Scorpion's revenge on the elder Sub-Zero, and could be relevant to a retelling of earlier events in the series, despite their recency.

Fujin returned with a compelling design update as part of the Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath downloadable content package in 2020, while Tanya made a fully fleshed out downloadable return in the Mortal Kombat X Kombat Pack. Both also appear as playable characters in the long-running Mortal Kombat Mobile game.

More compelling are the lapsed kombatants who debuted in MK4: White Lotus fighter Kai was conspicuous by absence in MKX's retelling of MK4, last seen in Armageddon and ripe with potential for reinvention. Reiko cemented a cult following with cunning portrayal in MKX tie-in comic books, advancing his appearance in Armageddon. Black Dragon thug Jarek had a small appearance in the aMKX comic books and Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind animated feature.

In recent fan Q&As Ed Boon noted he's more hyped for Reiko than Shao Kahn, also describing a Mortal Kombat 4 remake as unlikely, but a "bucket list" item. Perhaps returning characters will have to do for now -- but which ones?

Do you think we'll see some of MK4's less frequent fighters? Will they be more than mere Kameos? Share your hopes & thoughts in the comments below and make sure you save the Summer Game Fest date by dowloading the MKO App via App Store or Google Play! Use it to find & discuss more news & rumors in the Mortal Kombat 1 forum!

With production to begin next month in Australia, the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie sequel has found one of its most vital pieces, adding another Netflix series alum to its growing cast of iconic kombat characters. Read on for details:

Princess Kitana is confirmed to make a return to games after appearing in the Mortal Kombat 1 announce trailer, but it will be a debut when Adeline Rudolph steps into the role in the follow-up to the 2021 cinematic reboot, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Rudolph previously appeared as Billie Wesker in the 2022 Resident Evil television adaptation, and as Agatha for thirty-six episodes of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. She's the second Sabrina actress reported to join MK2, set to appear opposite Tati Gabrielle as Jade.

Adeline Rudolph appearing as Agatha in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Eagle-eyed viewers of the 2021 film might have seen Kitana's fans displayed as set dressing, with director Simon McQuoid noting intense public interest in the character, and a desire to explore more of the iconic female cast in the sequel. Her in-fiction cloned twin, Mileena (Sisi Stringer), met a grim fate in the first installment.

First appearing in Mortal Kombat II as a personal assassin for Emperor Shao Kahn; Kitana quickly gained equal footing as one of the most recognized characters from the arcade franchise. Her in-fiction loyalties were flipped with a completion of the game, exposing her origins as the rightful heir to a doomed realm, revealed in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 to be called Edenia. These plotlines influenced a 1995 big screen portrayal by Talisa Soto.

Versions of this story are widely rumored to inform the upcoming movie which, according to new writer Jeremy Slater, aims to embrace the "weird universe" of Mortal Kombat. Despite this, the sequel will also find room for hotly anticipated human fighter Johnny Cage, rumored to be played by Karl Urban.

[Related Article: WB Games Announces Mortal Kombat: Onslaught Mobile RPG]

What do you think about the latest round of casting news? Are you excited to see Kitana return to the big screen? Share your thoughts in the comments below and find & discuss more movie news in the Media & Merchandise forum!