The future of Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment has been cast under a cloud of uncertainty ever since June, when it was reported parent company AT&T was considering selling its video game assets. A recent internal corporate memo suggested stability, and now a new report claims the sale is off the table. Read on for details:

Bloomberg cites "people familiar with the situation" in a report that claims the video game division have been removed from AT&T's "noncore" assets. Its believed any sale would have included NetherRealm Studios and Mortal Kombat, along with prospective licenses for DC Comics properties such as Injustice, and more. Warner Bros Games was estimated to be worth $4 billion in total, with Microsoft among the serious bidders.

NetherRealm has continued to seek recruitment in key areas throughout this period, which also included other major gaming announcements from sister studios. The first DC FanDome event confirmed new Arkham game Gotham Knights from WB Games Montreal, while Rocksteady Studios revealed the franchise expansion Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Gamers were well positioned to see the value in AT&T retaining the Warner investment. Mortal Kombat has consistently been a major seller since their 2009 acqusition, with the Wall Street Journal reporting a staggering 5 million units sold for Mortal Kombat X. The property has also spawned an animated feature, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge, and next year's live-action movie reboot.

Although the recent WarnerMedia corporate shuffle didn't appear to directly address changes for gaming, it seems attitude towards potential growth in the area has led to the change. A driving factor may be the radically different media landscape emerging since the outbreak of COVID-19, and greater engagements with digital consumption.

In the last week Sony has reported both its all-time most downloaded game, Fall Guys, and its most downloaded beta, Avengers. Microsoft also saw an increase in console sales as a result of lockdown and self-isolating measures.

What do you think about the prospect of Mortal Kombat staying at Warner Brothers? Share your thoughts about the future of the franchise and if you think things will remain stable in the comments below. Find and discuss more topics in the Future MK and Mortal Kombat 11 forums. Special thanks to MK Online user Shinnokxz for forwarding this link.

Who teases the teasers? Ed Boon has taken a shot at rampant false reporting of Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath leaks, while also teasing the prospect of something legitimate coming soon from the developer. Read on for the full story:

The NetherRealm Studios Creative Director used Twitter to take aim at a YouTube video that claims to confirm a previously rumored guest character. The clip features an excerpt from a live chat with Raiden voice actor Richard Epcar, who casually acknowledges the inclusion of Ash Williams at the suggestion of a fan. In a follow-up tweet, Boon explicitly ruled this out as one of the wrong ones.

The silver lining to the many "leaks" is ... there are so many wrong ones..... which conveniently drown out the true ones! ????https://t.co/YkxUhZ79cV

— Ed Boon (@noobde) September 1, 2020

For clarity.... that was one of the "leaks" that got it wrong. You'd be amazed at how many people make statements without knowing the facts.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

— Ed Boon (@noobde) September 1, 2020

Rumors of an Evil Dead crossover first began with datamining of the game and were fuelled by a chainsaw buzz in teasers. Iconic actor Bruce Campbell denied his involvement with Mortal Kombat 11 way back in May of last year, but relevant copyright matter continued to appear in official material, suggesting the character was planned as downloadable content at some point. If this was the case, Richard Epcar may have even recorded an announcer voice for it.

It seems clear there's more to the Evil Dead story, but it'll be some time before we know it. When asked about the crossover in July, Boon evasively told Vic's Basement host Victor Lucas: "Ah! I wish... There's one I wish I could comment on. Uh, yeah. You know what? Perhaps in a future Vic's Basement we can have a conversation like that."

Although not much more informative, Boon did offer something more enticing earlier in the day, suggesting a teaser of some kind could be coming soon.

I see a tease in our future....

— Ed Boon (@noobde) September 1, 2020

The studio recently teased upcoming All Hallow's Eve Skins, which have been brought forward for a late September release. This could mean the hotly speculated future for Mortal Kombat 11 downloadable content is back on track. Ed Boon also recently polled fans on their preferred finishers. It remains to be seen if anyting will come of it.

What do you think could be coming down the pipeline? Share your speculation and wishlists in the comments below and stay tuned to the Mortal Kombat 11 forum for reports on news as it develops.

NetherRealm Studios has updated the Summer DLC schedule, bringing forward the next batch of Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath skins to the end of September! Things are getting spooky, scary as boys become ice kings, and men become wolves. Check it out:

The All Hallow's Eve skin pack has been brought forward 11 days to be rescheduled for first access starting September 29th! The Halloween costumes will see D'Vorah becoming a creepy nurse, Sub-Zero become a frozen king, and Johnny Cage don his own letters as a teen wolf!

The new skins will be in addition to the recently released Femme Fatale Pack that brought back klassic skins, the vaguely American Independence Day themed Summer Heat Skins, and new Kombat League skins that includes D'Vorah style Kytinn skins for three other fighters.

The All Hallow's Eve designs draw inspiration from recent modern references, paying homage to characters from series like Game of Thrones and Teen Wolf. Last year's Masquerade Skin Pack outfitted Liu Kang, Kitana, and Kabal in more general classic horror designs.

Are the All Hallow's Eve skins tricks or treats? Share your review of the Halloweeny costumes in the comments below and go door to door with all the other topics you find in the Mortal Kombat 11 forum.

The hotly anticipated Femme Fatale Skin Pack is finally here! Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath gets a touch of klassic style in a trailer showcasing the latest downloadable content! Watch:

"Sole Survivor" Kitana, "Outworld Courtier" Jade and "Old Blood" Skarlet take inspiration from designs first included in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Although actually a creation for the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot, Skarlet looks right at home, fulfilling old school arcade rumors that helped to inspire her.

The trio joins this month's Summer Heat Skins in the DLC store, with an All Hallow's Eve pack still to come. The Femme Fatales are available now for Aftermath owners on most platforms, with a slight delay for Nintendo Switch until August 28th. Take a closer look in hi-res official renders supplied by Warner Bros below:

60.7% of MK Online users voted this the most anticipated Summer pack at the time of writing. What do you think of the palette swap throwbacks? Share your thoughts in the comments and check out more in the Mortal Kombat 11 and 2D Kombat Klassics forums!

Mortal Kombat 11 is positively flush with finishing options after the addition of Friendships in May, but Ed Boon has polled fans on what they'd hypothetically like to see more of. The results proved surprising in a tight race between returning moves from games past. Read on:

It was almost too close to call right until the end, but come cut-off more than 13,800 Twitter users chose Animality as the finishing move they'd most like to see more of!

The metamorphosing moves have only been featured in versions of Mortal Kombat 3 (through Trilogy), making an obvious choice for fan preference, but they only managed a .2% majority over another single-game phenomenon. Self-inflicted Hara-Kiris were a quirk of competition in Mortal Kombat: Deception, and took second with 34.2% of the poll,

More....

— Ed Boon (@noobde) August 20, 2020

Recently restored Friendships were somewhat unsurprisingly the lowest selected option with 12.8%, while infantilizing Babalities, first introduced in MKII and last seen in Mortal Kombat (2011), earned a respectable 18.6%.

Interestingly, all of the poll options were referenced in a winking inside joke that uses Terminator's visual readout to poke fun at widespread pre-game leaks. The same gag included a list of 'Kombat Pack 2' characters with Mileena, Rain, and others.

Which type of finisher would you most like to see more of? Tell us how you think it could work in the comments below and find & discuss more in the Mortal Kombat 11 forum. Or debate the best in any category you can imagine by entering the Fan Koliseum!