30Year

More than 30 years ago, Mortal Kombat hit arcades, kicking off the hyper-violent franchise that now spans numerous video games, big-budget movies, comic books, and even an animated series. Soon, fans can get an inside look at the franchise’s gore-spattered history thanks to the upcoming art book, Mortal Kombat: Flawless Victory, written by Ian Flynn–the lead writer of IDW Publishing’s Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and Sonic Frontiers. The $50 hardcover book will be released on October 21, 2025, and is available for preorder at Amazon.

$50 (was $60) | Releases October 21

According to the book’s Amazon store page, Mortal Kombat: Flawless Victory will feature over 300 pages of concept sketches, renders, and illustrations. The art will be presented alongside exclusive interviews with the development team at NetherRealm Studios, commentary from Flynn, and an in-depth look at fan-favorite characters like Scorpion, Raiden, and Liu Kang.

While August 2025 is a bit of a long wait, the silver lining here is that you won’t be charged until the book ships, and thanks to Amazon’s preorder price guarantee, you’ll get it for the best price.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection is a blast from the past

The best way to experience Mortal Kombat history is through the original games, and fortunately, they’re all coming to PC and console later this year. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection from retro specialists Digital Eclipse launches on December 12, and this bundle includes the original trilogy of arcade games, Mortal Kombat 4, Game Boy ports, several spin-offs, and a look behind the scenes with archival materials and newly filmed interviews.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection will be available in three editions: Standard, Deluxe, and Kollector’s. The Deluxe Edition comes with the game, a steelbook case, magnet, poster, and more, while the Kollector’s Edition offers all of those extras and a controller-holder shaped like Goro, an arcade token, and several other extras. Preorders for all editions are now live.

While the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie isn’t something you’d consider for a historical tour of the franchise yet, it’s still a ton of fun to watch. With its sequel delayed to May 2026, now is a great time to revisit the movie since it’s getting a new 4K steelbook release. The new edition launches October 7, and the cover features Scorpion’s mask on the front and his deadly kunai on the back. This version also comes with a voucher to claim the digital version of Mortal Kombat, giving you the option to download or stream the film on a wide variety of apps and devices.

If you’re a fan of gaming history, you can check out several other books right now covering various consoles and games. Game Boy enthusiasts will want to check out The Game Boy Encyclopedia–a book that explores the hundreds of games released for the handheld–by veteran video game journalist Chris Scullion, who has also authored several other books on the topic,

The Video Game Encyclopedia Series

There are also deep dives into Nintendo written by Florent Gorge, as the long-awaited translations of the third and fourth volumes in The History of Nintendo series are also up for preorder. If you ever wanted to read up on the secret history of the iconic video game company, then books like The History Of the Famicom/NES and The History Of The Game Boy are essential reading. Lastly, you can also check out the superb hardcovers produced by Bitmap Books. These cover a wide range of topics, from box art to horror games, and they’re some of the best coffee table books around if you’re looking for something that’s easy on the eyes.

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Focus on U.K. inflation report

Wednesday’s U.K. inflation report is critical for bond markets.

The data is expected to show that both the headline consumer price index (CPI) and core CPI remained well above the 2% target in July, according to data source Trading Economics. The headline CPI is expected to be 3.7% year-over-year (up from the previous 3.6%), while core inflation is forecast to remain at 3.7% (unchanged from the prior month). The data will hit the wires just weeks after the Bank of England cut rates to 4%.

Expectations for sticky inflation couldn’t have come at a worse time, as the GDP growth has weakened and unemployment has begun to edge higher from secular lows.

Repeat of 2022 crisis?

A hot inflation report could only worsen the debt-bond dynamics by accelerating the uptrend in yields. This calls for both crypto and traditional market traders to remain vigilant for a 2022-style volatility in the U.K. markets.

The hardening of the 30-year gilt yield, representing the long end of the curve, played a big role in the liability-driven investment (LDI) pension crisis of 2022, which erupted under Liz Truss. The longer duration yield is now testing the upper bound of a long-term trend and could rise to 5.7%, the highest level since May 1998.

LDI strategies use leverage to hedge pension liabilities. When gilt yields spiked in 2022, collateral calls led to a mass sale of gilts, creating a feedback loop that threatened financial stability. That prompted the Bank of England to intervene with emergency purchases to prevent a systemic crisis.

If Wednesday’s inflation report runs hotter than expected, gilt yields could break new highs, putting further pressure on the government and raising the risk of another LDI-style crisis.

New Art Book Explores Mortal Kombat’s Bloody 30-Year Visual History