Japanese developer and publisher SNK, known for franchises like King of Fighters and Fatal Fury, has established KOF Studio which is meant to “carry on the storied legacy” of its fighting game franchises. The studio website explains further that the developer will attempt to “revolutionize” SNK’s large library of Fighting properties in their possession.
This follows SNK’s noted attempt to revive several of these IPs over recent years, outside of their King of Fighters series which has seen steady releases over the years. Samurai Showdown saw a new title in 2019, the first mainline release in the series in over a decade. Fatal Fury also has a new entry in development set for this year and while the series would go on to lend heavily to King Of Fighters, this is the first new entry in the series since 1999.
In June of 2024, SNK officially opened a new studio in Singapore with the goal to “develop high-quality games through enhanced cooperation” in conjunction with its Japanese teams. This, in conjunction with KOF Studio, is part of SNKs goal to become a “top 10 global publisher” within the next decade. This is a lofty goal given that while SNK remains invested and well-known in the Fighting Game community, they haven’t been omnipresent in the last decade.
This trend however does follow a similar one to other studios out of Japan recently. Capcom has largely gone to their well of classic IPs, announcing a new Onimusha and Okami title at the Video Game Awards in December of last year. In addition, SEGA has a collection of old titles like Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, and Golden Axe that will see updated versions in the future. Square Enix has also taken a similar approach, having recently released Visions of Mana, the first new entry in the series since 2006.
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