Compiling video game sales from the first half of 2015, Fortune has reported Mortal Kombat X is the top selling title for the year so far!

The 2015 fighting game sequel beat out stiff competition, with Take-Two Interactive's always strong Grand Theft Auto sequel coming second.

Established franchises dominated the list of usual suspects overall -- Minecraft joining GTA as evergreen titles that were present in the list, this time last year!

Fortune calls Mortal Kombat X the "biggest surprise" of the 2015 mid-year list, citing increasingly visceral finishing moves as a presumed driving force for sales. The surprise can probably be attributed to Fortune's dated understanding of the series' appeal, and failure to adequately recognize the dedicated fan base that pushed Mortal Kombat (2011) to 3 million sales [read more]. MKX enjoyed consistent interest in pre-release, trending globally with the release of the first announce trailer last June [full story].

"... while there is still a strong fan base for the game, it wasn’t expected to be the best-selling title in the first half of the year. But by upping the gore in the game’s fatalities, Mortal Kombat X had the best launch in the history of the franchise—and that created buzz that kept sales strong."

Fortune also underestimated the highly anticipated conclusion to the Batman: Arkham series -- which hit the list with Arkham Knight just a week from its official release.

MK and Batman are a testament to the reinvention of Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment as a gaming power of this decade bolstered by well curated franchises, Both sequels came with troubled releases, however, challenging future instalments with the lingering concern of bug riddled PC releases, and missing ports for last generation consoles.

Mortal Kombat X Creative Director Ed Boon noted today there will be an update concerning the indefinitely delayed PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 release soon.

Sales data comes from The NPD Group, based on sales from January through the end of June. Agreements prevent the release of specific NPD numbers. Figures do not include definitive hard data for digital sales on direct platforms, eg; PlayStation Network & Xbox Live.

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