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SNK Establishes KOF Studio

SNK announced on Sunday that it has established KOF Studio on the 30th anniversary of The King of Fighters franchise. The studio's website states that it will "proudly carry on the storied legacy of our iconic fighting game IPs while driving their evolution well into the future."

The website mentions other SNK fighting game titles such as Fatal Fury and Samurai Shodown. It has a page dedicated to job listings for the its upcoming Samurai Spirits action RPG game. SNK had revealed during a panel at EVO 2024 that a new Samurai Shodown action RPG is in development as well as a new Art of Fighting game.

The King of Fighters fighting game franchise initially began as a crossover fighter for SNK's Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting franchises, and their characters have been mainstays in the long-running series until today. Fatal Fury (known as Garō Densetsu in Japan) is one of SNK's most iconic fighting game franchises, and is the origin of some of the company's most recognizable characters, including Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Mai Shiranui, Blue Mary, Geese Howard, and more. Fatal Fury: King of Fighters debuted in arcades in 1991, and the latest installment, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, debuted in 1999.

The series inspired the Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf original video anime (OVA) in 1992, Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle OVA in 1993, and Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture in 1994. All three feature Masami Ōbari's character designs, with Ōbari also directing the third anime. Discotek Media has released all three anime.

SNK announced its new fighting game Fatal Fury City of the Wolves at the EVO fighting game tournament in 2022. It is the first new game in more than two decades since the last installment. The game will launch on April 24 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Steam, and the Epic Games Store.

Source: KOF Studio's website and Twitter account via Gematsu