Dmitriy Lazarev
In Part 1 of this series, we traced the history of Mortal Kombat from its earliest entries through the 2011 reboot, showing how accessibility evolved from incidental features to deliberate design choices. With Mortal Kombat 9, NetherRealm Studios established a new baseline for the franchise. Its clear, deliberate sound design, distinctive character cues, and story-driven structure marked the first time the series could be considered broadly accessible to blind players.
In this second part, we follow that progress into the modern era, exploring how NetherRealm refined accessibility through the Injustice series, Mortal Kombat X, and Mortal Kombat 11. We will also place these developments within the larger context of a gaming industry increasingly committed to accessibility.
Building on MK9: Injustice and Cross-Pollination
NetherRealm’s next project after MK9 was Injustice: Gods Among Us (2013), a DC Comics–based fighting game. While not part of the Mortal Kombat canon, it borrowed heavily from the reboot’s structure and carried forward many of its accessibility strengths. Fighters announced themselves with short lines before battles, making matchups easier to follow, and many characters exchanged unique bits of dialogue that gave additional context. The story mode unfolded as a continuous sequence of cinematic scenes and battles, which, although not audio described, was more approachable than the silent text screens of earlier Mortal Kombat games.
The most important element, however, was the continuation of MK9’s strong audio design. Characters and environments had distinctive sounds, and combat effects were mixed clearly enough to help blind players understand positioning and anticipate moves. In this way, Injustice demonstrated that MK9 had not been an isolated success. Instead, NetherRealm was beginning to treat accessibility as an ongoing part of its design language.
Console-Level Accessibility and Wider Influence
During the same period, Microsoft’s Killer Instinct reboot (2013) and the release of the Xbox One highlighted how console-level accessibility could transform gaming. With the Xbox Narrator, blind players were, for the first time, able to navigate console menus independently. Killer Instinct also emphasized distinct combat sounds and audible interactables, and its influence spread outward: NetherRealm later patched Injustice to include audible interactables as well.
These developments reinforced that accessibility was no longer an afterthought. With platform-level tools like Narrator and later the Xbox Adaptive Controller, players with a wide range of disabilities were beginning to see mainstream support across franchises and consoles, not just in isolated titles.
Mortal Kombat X: Refinement and Frustrations
When Mortal Kombat X arrived in 2015, it built directly on the foundation of MK9. Character intros and pre-fight dialogue expanded, allowing players to identify combatants without visual confirmation. The story mode again combined cinematic presentation with battles, maintaining a structure that blind players could follow. Most importantly, the series’ sound design, established so clearly in MK9, carried forward unchanged, providing reliable orientation and feedback during fights.
That said, barriers remained. The return of a “random select” option adjacent to character choices created the possibility of accidental selection, a problem familiar from earlier titles. Customization systems and certain unlockable content also required sighted assistance, limiting independent play. Even the round system, which flowed more smoothly between rounds, sometimes made it harder to be sure who had won. MKX was therefore both a confirmation of NetherRealm’s accessibility direction and a reminder that even small design choices could create new obstacles.
Mortal Kombat 11: Accessibility Formalized
Mortal Kombat 11, released in 2019, distinguished itself not by overhauling accessibility but by layering new features on top of the standard set by MK9. For the first time, the game included its own in-game screen reader, which provided blind players with text-to-speech support for certain menus. Stages as well as characters were audibly identified, reducing the need to memorize selection order. Combat sound remained strong and consistent, building on the accessible foundation laid nearly a decade earlier.
While elements of customization and unlockable content continued to present barriers, MK11 signaled something new: NetherRealm was willing to experiment with formal accessibility tools. The integration of a screen reader was limited, but it represented recognition that blind players were not only part of the audience but deserving of features specifically designed to support them.
Industry Context
The broader industry was also undergoing rapid change. In 2020, The Last of Us Part II set a new bar with an extensive accessibility suite that spanned dozens of options, including a fully integrated screen reader and navigational audio cues. Since then, games like God of War: Ragnarok and Diablo IV have followed suit. In this environment, Mortal Kombat’s steady audio accessibility and its tentative steps into menu narration are part of a much larger shift: accessibility is no longer a niche concern but a mainstream expectation in major releases.
Conclusion
From MK9 through MK11, NetherRealm maintained a consistent foundation of accessible sound design while gradually adding new features. The leap in 2011 established audio as a deliberate accessibility tool rather than an incidental one, and every subsequent game has carried that baseline forward. MK11 went further by experimenting with built-in screen reading and stage announcements, showing a willingness to formalize accessibility alongside gameplay refinements.
As we look ahead to Mortal Kombat 1, accessibility has become part of the conversation in a way that would have been unthinkable during the franchise’s early years. That game, which introduced a dedicated accessibility suite, will be the focus of a future article. For now, it is enough to say that Mortal Kombat’s journey demonstrates how one of gaming’s most storied franchises has come to embrace a more inclusive future.
