A recent datamine has potentially revealed the purpose of a new banner that has appeared inMortal Kombat11, with the new ad space supposedly intended to promote NetherRealm Studios' next title. While the mined files do not contain any specifics on what the new game could be, numerous online rumors are pointing towards it being none other thanMortal Kombat 11’s direct successor,Mortal Kombat 12.The infamously gory and blood-soaked fighter from NetherRealm Studios latest release wasMortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, which launched in May 2020, just over a year after the base title’s initial launch. With well over three years since the announcement of the last entry, manyMKfans were hoping for a formal announcement at this year’s Game Awards. Such an announcement didn’t come, but there are a lot of fans that believeNetherRealm’s no-show is a good signforMortal Kombat.RELATED:Future Mortal Kombat Games Will Have More Horror Guest CharactersThe newMortal Kombat 12leak comes from prominentMortal Kombatleaker and dataminer “TheThiny” who claims the new banner atopMortal Kombat 11’s home screen is more important than meets the eye. While the banner is currently just advertising for the game’sAftermathDLC, TheThiny states that via the datamine that there are files attached to the banner which contain placeholders for NetherRealm Studios' next game. Unfortunately, the details essentially end there, as the placeholder files are apparently devoid of any specific information about what the game could be.[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/thethiny/status/1604358850940964864[/EMBED_TWITTER]While it seems that many fans are leaning towards the to-be-advertised game asMortal Kombat 12, others think it may finally be the long-awaitedInjustice 3. The DC fighting franchise hasn’t seen a new release sinceInjustice 2in 2017. The lack ofInjustice3could possibly be due to the recent Warner Bros - Discovery merger, which affects both NetherRealm Studios and DC Comics. However, fans do have a 50-50 shot at getting either game, asNetherRealm founder Ed Boon narrowed the next releaseto two options: eitherInjustice 3orMortal Kombat 12.Unfortunately for fans who want to know for certain, Ed Boon is a notorious online troll, meaning it could actually be neither of them. Last year,Boon teased work on a Marvel crossover fighting game. Congratulating film director James Gunn on working on both DC and Marvel movies, theMortal Kombatcreator included a thinking emoji and - given his behavior - led plenty of fans to assume that a Marvel fighting game is being worked on.Whatever the game may be, fans now at least have an idea of when they can expect it. Earlier this month, Ed Boon held a Twitter AMA in which one fan asked whatthe release window for the next NetherRealm gamewould be. In typical fashion, Boon responded with “I really shouldn’t 23-answer that,” meaning players may be able to expect at least one game at some point in 2023.Mortal Kombat 11is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.MORE:The Case for a Custom Character in Mortal Kombat 12Source:ComicBook