Mortal Kombat’s Call of Duty Crossover Never Happened, But It Should Have
The Call of Duty franchise has delivered more than its fair share of crossovers in the last few years, beginning with the post-launch of Call of Duty: Ghosts all the way back in 2014, in which Halloween‘s Michael Myers and Predator came to the game. Call of Duty: Warzone has continued to pry the floodgates open, delivering a plethora of collaborations since its launch in 2020, most of which have come in the form of an Operator skin based on a popular IP.
Some of Call of Duty‘s recent crossover skins have made quite a bit of sense, with the chosen IP following the military shooter’s aesthetic and tone closely. But some have felt rather bizarre, bringing a skin that doesn’t match the series’ more grounded vibes at all. There’s one leaked Call of Duty crossover that never happened but really should have, and it’s not too late for Activision to revisit the idea.
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Call of Duty’s Mortal Kombat Crossover Should Be Resurrected
Call of Duty’s Leaked Mortal Kombat Crossover Explained
Back in December 2023, a leaker named @ForwardLeaks took to Twitter to post a leaked image of a supposedly datamined, unreleased Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 emblem. This emblem depicted a black-and-white image of Mortal Kombat‘s Scorpion, reaching out a hand encompassed in a bright red flame. Above the image stood some bold white text reading “Fist O’Fire.”
When this image was first leaked, many fans naturally concluded that a Call of Duty x Mortal Kombat crossover was imminent, likely coinciding with the then-upcoming “Supe’d Up” limited-time mode. Fans theorized that this leaked emblem would only be the tip of the iceberg for a much larger crossover, with many believing that a Scorpion Operator skin would likely be coming to Call of Duty as well. However, no such collaboration ever took place.
A Call of Duty x Mortal Kombat Crossover Still Has Potential
While fans may never know the truth behind Call of Duty‘s leaked, unreleased Mortal Kombat crossover, it shouldn’t mean that all hope is lost for a potential collaboration between the two gaming juggernauts in the future. As mentioned up top, Call of Duty has had some bizarre, tonally-jarring crossovers over the last few years, but a Mortal Kombat collab would not be one of those. Mortal Kombat‘s more grounded art direction and character art would suit Call of Duty‘s aesthetic well, and both franchises share a more mature tone.
Though it might be a bit jarring to see fantastical characters like Goro and Motaro come to Call of Duty, humanoid characters like Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Liu Kang, Mileena, and Kitana would all look right at home in a match of Call of Duty, especially as the multiplayer game has already had several ninja-themed skins over the years. Adding Mortal Kombat characters to Call of Duty would also pave the way for some creatively gory finisher moves, with the developers being able to borrow directly from Mortal Kombat‘s vast library of Fatalities and Brutalities.
The hype surrounding Mortal Kombat 1 may have died down by now, and Khaos Reigns didn’t do much to keep the flame going, but the franchise’s cast of characters is no less iconic. With so many unrequested crossovers now under its belt, it’d be great to see Call of Duty deliver a collab that truly makes sense.