2017, the game was mostly absent from the tournament scene, due to NetherRealm Studios being focused on their Injustice series as their top priority; Mortal Kombat games returned to Combo Breaker in 2018. Controversies The series was subject of a major video game controversy and several court cases, largely related to its extremely violent content, especially in relation to the original game which paved a way for the introduction of the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) game rating system in 1994 as well as the Australian Classification Board. Various games in the series, as well as advertisements for them, have been censored or banned in a number of countries. According to SuperData Research CEO Joost van Dreunen, "Because of the obvious rift between gamers on the one hand and adult society on the other, Mortal Kombat set the tone for what constituted gamer culture." In Germany, every Mortal Kombat game was banned for ten years from its release until 2015. Mortal Kombat (2011) is also banned in South Korea, and was banned in Australia until February 2013. MK11 is banned in Indonesia, Japan, China and Ukraine. See also DC Universe List of best-selling video game franchises List of fighting games Happy Tree Friends References External links (Warner Bros.) Mortal Kombat Wiki at Fandom Mortal Kombat at MobyGames "The History of Mortal Kombat video series Articles which contain graphical timelines Fighting video games by series Hell in popular culture Mythopoeia Video game franchises introduced in 1992 Video game franchises Video games about demons Video games adapted into comics Video games adapted into films Video games adapted into television shows Video games about parallel universes Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment franchises Fiction about murder