“Mortal Kombat 9 navegador” (Mortal Kombat 9 browser) became one of the fastest-rising gaming searches in Brazil this week, up 500% on Google Trends. The reason is an independent fan project that runs the whole 2011 Mortal Kombat in a browser tab, with the DLC characters, Kratos included, and even online rooms to play against other people.

To be clear: this is not an official release. Warner Bros. Games and NetherRealm are not involved, and the game is a commercial property. In line with our editorial policy, SavePoint does not share the address, does not give instructions and does not help anyone access it.

The interest makes sense, though. Mortal Kombat 9 is remembered as the reboot that saved the series after difficult years, and its official online play is gone: the PS3 servers were shut down in 2020, and the Komplete Edition, which bundles the game and its DLC, currently shows no purchase option on the Brazilian Steam store (checked on October 29). When a classic disappears from stores, fans look for another way to play, which is where projects like this come in, always on shaky legal ground.

Anyone who goes looking for unofficial versions takes real risks: fake pages that copy popular projects to spread malware, login prompts that steal accounts, and the chance that the project disappears at any moment after a request from Warner.

The safe route is to play the series on official stores. On Steam, Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection collects the 2D-era classics, while Mortal Kombat 11 and Mortal Kombat 1, the latest entry, are also available, along with console versions.

Fan projects like this show, once again, how game preservation depends on publishers keeping their classics on sale and playable. Mortal Kombat 9 deserves an official comeback.

Source: Warner Bros. Games; reportagem do SavePoint.