Development
In February 2007, Midway Games revealed they were planning a new game in the Mortal Kombat franchise, inspired by having seen a showcase of Gears of War. "Mortal Kombat 8" would have been "dark, gritty, serious" and a "back to basics reboot" to the series. Eventually, at some time during planning, a deal with DC Comics was settled and this project was dropped, thus leading to the development of a very different game. An announcement in April 2008 confirmed the game as a crossover, and a trailer was released. From the original project, the only notable aspect that remained was the use of the Unreal Engine 3, also used in Gears of War.
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe was co-published by Midway Games and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and was the final Mortal Kombat title to be developed under the Midway label prior to its purchase by Warner Bros. Interactive. According to Maurice Patel, entertainment industry manager at AutoDesk, AutoDesk software was used to develop Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. For the lighting in MK vs. DC, Midway used lighting solutions provider Illuminate Labs's products.
The use of a DC license in MK vs. DC implied some restrictions be made to the characteristic violence in Mortal Kombat games. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe thus was restricted to a "Teen" rating. Therefore, various Fatalities such as Sub-Zero's "Spine Rip" from previous titles were replaced due to their violent nature. In order to keep that rating, two of MK vs. DC's Fatalities were censored in North America. In the United Kingdom version of MK vs. DC, both the Joker and Deathstroke's first Fatality feature them each finishing their opponent with a gunshot to the head, with each respective shot shown uncut from a distance. However, the North American version had the camera quickly pan toward the victor before the shot is fired, thereby cutting the victim out of the shot completely. Additionally, one of Kitana's Fatalities which involved impaling the opponent in the head and the torso with her fanblades was modified so that both fanblades impaled her opponent's chest instead.
Read more about this topic: Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe
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