Mortal Kombat makes it to 3 million

Last month, Mortal Kombat sales were pegged at "close to 3 million" by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president Martin Tremblay. The latest installment in the long-running gore-soaked fighting franchise has swapped out a couple key words, as the publisher today officially declared that is has sold "over 3 million" copies worldwide across the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

In addition, the publisher called Mortal Kombat "the highest-selling fighting game of the year." That would put the game at the top of a relatively small heap, as only a handful of noteworthy fighting games have hit stores this year. Capcom has released Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, while Tecmo Koei launched Dead or Alive: Dimensions on the 3DS, and Square Enix debuted Dissidia 012: Duodecim Final Fantasy.

The first game in the franchise since 2008's Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and the ninth in the series, Mortal Kombat was intended as a back-to-basics reboot. With a roster pulled almost entirely from the first three games in the series, Mortal Kombat also eschewed the 3D gameplay of later entries in the series by constraining the action to a 2D plane.

Since launch, WBIE has stoked interest in the game with the release of four new playable characters as downloadable content. While the first three--Skarlet, Rain, and Kenshi--were pulled from previous Mortal Kombat titles, the fourth was a new addition to the series, A Nightmare on Elm Street villain Freddy Krueger. It was not the game's only "krossover" fighter, as God of War protagonist Kratos appeared as an exclusive extra in the PS3 version of the game.

For more on the reboot, check out GameSpot's review of Mortal Kombat.