Mortal Kombat 11 is Powered by NetherRealm’s Custom Version of Unreal Engine 3

It seems confusion abounds about what engine Mortal Kombat 11 is running on. While some think Epic’s Unreal Engine 4 is powering the upcoming fighter, NetherRealm has actually been working from its own custom version of Unreal Engine 3. The studio’s Graphics Programming Lead Jon Greenberg recently took to Twitter to set the record straight.

According to Greenberg, someone has been meddling with the game’s Wikipedia page, adding notes that suggest Mortal Kombat 11 runs on Unreal Engine 4. As noted above, this is not the case. In the following tweet, Greenberg explained,

To whoever keeps changing the Mortal Kombat 11 Wikipedia page to claim the game uses UE4… while I appreciate the intention and while we take this as a compliment, MK11 is built on NRS’s custom UE3 version. And yes, our ver of UE3 is radically different from Epic’s at this pt.

— Jon Greenberg (@Jontology) March 5, 2019

Apparently, as one fan on Twitter claimed, much of the confusion stems from a behind-the-scenes look at Mortal Kombat 11. In the video, references to Unreal Engine 4 are displayed on a computer screen. While this is true, Greenberg confirmed in a subsequent tweet, some of that footage was “mixed in” with content for Mortal Kombat Mobile, the Mortal Kombat title that does indeed run on Unreal Engine 4. Greenberg said,

Yup. Mobile is using UE4, and footage got mixed in. We’re all in the same building, and in some cases, some folks end up working on both.

— Jon Greenberg (@Jontology) March 5, 2019

On March 28th, NetherRealm will launch a Mortal Kombat 11 closed beta for those who preorder on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The full game will release for the two aforementioned consoles, Nintendo Switch, and PC on April 23rd.

[Source: Jon Greenberg via DSOGaming]