This year's E3 was dominated by developments in the newly revealed Mortal Kombat X! Though the Expo may be over, the highlights continue! Back safe from the trip to LA, long running Mortal Kombat fan-site TRMK has posted an interview conducted with NetherRealm Studios Creative Director Ed Boon -- and it contains some compelling new details!

Watch full demo matches in the Gamespot Stage Demo recap.

With only six of a projected twenty-plus characters revealed at E3 - much fan speculation centres around the prospects of returning characters. Telling a story that will take the game up to 25 years into the post Mortal Kombat future -- new characters are plentiful! All of that MK4 centric speculation won't be for naught, however! Ed told TRMK, "You will definitely see a Mortal Kombat 4 character,"

Better still - the returning playable characters won't end at MK4! "You will also see some of the later game' fighters." adds the series co-creator; who led development on three core instalments in the generation after MK4: Deadly Alliance (2002), Deception (2004) & Armageddon (2006). The series also crossed over with DC Comics on PS3 & 360 in 2008, before being rebooted in Mortal Kombat (2011).

There will also be cameos in the new story mode, "Some really fun ones." Don't expect the notoriously relegated centaur Motaro to make a triumphant comeback any time soon, though. Ed nixed the horse-bodied sub-bosses prospects whilst describing the barriers that keep bosses unplayable. Where MKX is concerned, he says, "I guess [I] can only speak for myself but I definitely want the bosses to be playable in some way." Shao Kahn was notably unplayable in MK2011, but Ed looks at "unlock" options as one of the ways bosses could be put in the hands of players.

Cryomancers in the Sea: The Lin Kuei has "a sea" of options for their mascot fighter.

As he noted during the Gamespot Stage Demo; the identity of the featured Sub-Zero will be addressed in the game's story mode. The history of the kori master's generational mantle is noted indirectly during the interview, "The thing about Sub-Zero is that there have been many Sub-Zeroes over the years. So the Sub-Zero that you see can be anybody because the Lin Kuei has a sea of Sub-Zeroes."

Updated gameplay has been a major focus of the Mortal Kombat X reveal. Over the course of E3, we learned many suspicions about the announce trailer were true! What we didn't know - at that time - is that MKX will be available for both the new generation hardware and its predecessors. Fans concerned about the weighted drag of previous tech needn't worry, though. Boon tells TRMK, "NetherRealm is only doing the PS4 and Xbox One Versions. We may be doing the PC version as well, but the consoles are the priority."

NetherRealm will be involved in "the solution" for porting the game to PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 - but that next gen priority means implementation will be outsourced. Sony's cross-gen online play (PS3 v PS4) is unlikely, but up for consideration. Likewise, a Vita version of the game is not currently in production, but still well within the window of decision making that game us the robust portable version of Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition.

The Hot Tag: Tag modes may be out, but Ferra & Torr are a tag team fighting as one.

Mortal Kombat (2011) enjoyed three exciting years in the Evo World Championship line-up - a reflection of the series' long awaited arrival as a fighting game with high calibre, balanced mechanics. Although the hardcore tournament crowd represent a percentage minority, Boon notes they will still be striving to satisfy those high-end concerns. "There are another six million who don't see that effort. But it's important to us."

This attention will see the studio continue to support the game long after release, taking advantage of the download Hotfix system they introduced in Mortal Kombat (2011) and refined with Injustice: Gods Among Us [NetherRealm's hugely successful DC superhero fighter - in case you missed it!]. The most recent Injustice hotfix was just last month!

Dedication to solving niggling interruptions and strong tournament calibre gameplay won't strip the series of its identity, though. We learned through different outlets during E3 that the series will continue to utilize a dedicated block button -- reserving the back to block standard of other series for Injustice . The well implemented but ultimately unpopular Tag Team Mode may not be so lucky, though. "It's not completely off the table, but it wasn't one of the most used things."

Who's Next?: Get a closer look at the Scorpion banner art hung at E3.

Mortal Kombat X will be released at an as yet undetermined date in 2015! Visit TRMK to read the full interview with more detailed Q&A.;

Find more developer chats in our extensive Interview Archive. Register to find and comment on all the videos, images & recaps from E3 on the Mortal Kombat X forum!