NetherRealm Studios

History

On February 12, 2009, Midway Games filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States. Warner Bros. subsequently acquired "substantially all of the assets", including Mortal Kombat, This Is Vegas and the Midway Games company structure, on July 10, 2009. While Warner Bros. went on to close most of Midway Games' Chicago headquarters and San Diego and Newcastle development studios, they retained the Chicago studio, which became part of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (now Warner Bros. Games). The remaining studio was renamed WB Games Chicago several days later. On April 20, 2010, the studio was reincorporated as NetherRealm Studios, replacing WB Games Chicago.

NetherRealm Studios' first game, the ninth installment in the Mortal Kombat series, was released in April 2011. Their first game of original intellectual property, Injustice: Gods Among Us, based on the DC Universe, was released in 2013. The success of the two games allowed the development of respective sequels; Mortal Kombat X in 2015 and* Injustice 2* in 2017. Also, NetherRealm developed Android and iOS versions for Batman: Arkham City Lockdown, Batman: Arkham Origins, and WWE Immortals. The company also developed Mortal Kombat 11, which was released on April 23, 2019. On October 18, 2022, NetherRealm announced that they were working on Mortal Kombat: Onslaught, a cinematic collection role-playing mobile game that was going to be released in 2023.

In July 2024, it was reported that the studio's mobile gaming division was shut down and at least 50 employees were laid off. The company announced that Mortal Kombat: Onslaught would shut down in October 2024.

Games developed

Controversies

Shortly after the launch of Mortal Kombat 11, several independent declarations from former employees came through about the studio's alleged practices and general working conditions during the development of their last four games, in what they described as a toxic workplace with common instances of gender discrimination, as well as severe crunch time. In May 2019, NetherRealm released a statement saying "At NetherRealm Studios, we greatly appreciate and respect all of our employees and prioritize creating a positive work experience. As an equal opportunity employer, we encourage diversity and constantly take steps to reduce crunch time for our employees. We are actively looking into all allegations, as we take these matters very seriously and are always working to improve our company environment. There are confidential ways for employees to raise any concerns or issues." Following the statement, NetherRealm gave the studio the weekend off.

That same month, another article by Kotaku reported on the mental toll the developers were taking on by developing such excessively violent video games—one developer detailed stories about how the team would view pictures and videos of murders or animal slaughter as reference material, which would cause nightmares and eventual insomnia, with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Notes

References

References

1. McWhertor, Michael. (August 24, 2010). "What's Next For Mortal Kombat, NetherRealm Studios".
2. Lee, James. (February 12, 2009). "Midway US files for reorganisation in Bankruptcy Court".
3. Crecente, Brian. (February 12, 2009). "Midway Files for Bankruptcy".
4. McWhertor, Michael. (July 10, 2009). "Warner Bros. Now Owns Midway, Mortal Kombat".
5. Thorsen, Tor. (July 14, 2009). "Midway Newcastle shuttered, Chicago layoffs 'imminent'".
6. Thorsen, Tor. (July 16, 2009). "Midway's Chicago HQ closing, final buyout price $49 million".
7. Gilbert, Ben. (July 17, 2009). "Midway execs get the boot, entire Chicago dev team acquired by WB".
8. Gilbert, Ben. (July 27, 2009). "Mortal Kombat team sheds Midway skin for 'WB Games Chicago'".
9. Martin, Matt. (July 28, 2009). "Mortal Kombat studio becomes WB Games Chicago".
10. Nunneley, Stephany. (April 9, 2010). "Warner trademarks Netherrealm Studios".
11. O'Connor, Alice. (June 10, 2010). "Mortal Kombat Returning to '2D' Roots".
12. Kubba, Sinan. (January 15, 2013). "Injustice: Gods Among Us hits April 16, Battle Edition revealed".
13. Purchese, Robert. (January 15, 2013). "Injustice: Gods Among Us release date 19th April".
14. Plagge, Kallie. (January 9, 2017). "Injustice 2 Release Date Revealed [UPDATE]".
15. Fahey, Mike. (February 14, 2017). "Injustice 2 Doubles Up On Cats".
16. Fahey, Mike. (December 6, 2018). "''Mortal Kombat 11'' Announced, Launching Globally April 23".
17. (October 18, 2022). "Mortal Kombat: Onslaught is a new mobile game coming in 2023".
18. (October 18, 2022). "Collection RPG Mortal Kombat: Onslaught announced for iOS, Android".
19. Straw, Mike. (2024-07-18). "Mortal Kombat Developer NetherRealm Studios Hit With Mass Layoffs".
20. Allen, Joseph. (2024-07-18). "NetherRealm's Mobile Games In Danger as Layoffs Strike".
21. Yin-Poole, Wesley. (2024-07-19). "Mortal Kombat Mobile Game to Shut Down a Year After Launch as Developer NetherRealm Suffers Layoffs".
22. (May 3, 2019). "NetherRealm's self-sustaining culture of crunch".
23. (April 26, 2019). "Former devs speak out about 'severe crunch' at Mortal Kombat studio". PCGamer.
24. Kim, Matt. (May 2, 2019). ""This Is How They Get Away With It:" Former NetherRealm Studios Contract Devs Reveal a Troubling Studio Culture".
25. (May 4, 2019). "'Mortal Kombat 11' Game Devs Allege Toxic Work Conditions at Warner Bros. Interactive's NetherRealm".
26. (May 9, 2019). "NetherRealm Investigating Worker Concerns After Studio-Wide Meeting".
27. (May 8, 2019). "'I'd Have These Extremely Graphic Dreams': What It's Like To Work On Ultra-Violent Games Like Mortal Kombat 11".