Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is the ninth game in the controversial and bloody Mortal Kombat series. It was developed and published by Midway for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox and was released September 16th, 2005 in the United States. In October 2004, the president of Midway, David F. Zucker, called the release of Shaolin Monks the "first step toward delivering something that Mortal Kombat fans have been calling for: a new game set in the Mortal Kombat universe every year."