Mortal Kombat sales 'close to' 3 million - Report

The Mortal Kombat franchise has proven its staying power in the nearly two decades since the original arcade game's debut, and the latest entry is reflecting that attribute appropriately. Originally released in April, Mortal Kombat has made the NPD Group's monthly US retail best-sellers chart four months running.

That kind of sales success adds up, as Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president Martin Tremblay told MCV that Mortal Kombat has now sold "close to" 3 million copies around the world. What's more, the success of the game has already paid for WBIE's costs acquiring the Mortal Kombat series' bankrupt original publisher, Midway. WBIE picked up the bulk of Midway's operations and intellectual property in 2009 for a final cost of $49 million.

"With the launch of Mortal Kombat, we have already paid for the acquisition of the Midway assets, and we are just beginning to leverage this acquisition with much more to come,” Tremblay told the trade site.

The first Mortal Kombat game since 2008's Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and the ninth in the series, the reboot is rated M for Mature for pervasive gore accentuated by gruesome fatalities. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's review of Mortal Kombat.