Japanese developer SNK recently established a new studio focused on its various fighting game franchises. Dubbed KOF Studio, it aims to “further evolve the SNK fighting game IP,” according to a translation of its announcement.
Fighting game properties under SNK include Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown, and King of Fighters. The latter series had a new installment in 2022, and the most recent Samurai Shodown (or Samurai Spirits in Japan) came in 2019. The next Fatal Fury game is April 2025’s Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, which marks its first new title in over 25 years.
An action-RPG Samurai Shodown is in development, and SNK is currently hiring for that project.
This past June, SNK formally announced a Singaporean studio to help “develop high-quality games through enhanced cooperation” with its Japanese teams. Developers based in that region are rare, and the effort is part of SNK’s aim of becoming a “top 10 global publisher” within the next decade.
SNK has always had a strong presence in the fighting game genre. But its commitment to revitalizing its franchises within that space is not too dissimilar from what Capcom has been doing with its own game library in recent years, such as Dragon’s Dogma and Mega Man.
Earlier in December, the Resident Evil developer unveiled new games for its Okami and Onimusha franchises. Both have not had new entries in a decade or longer, but Capcom explained it wanted to try its hand at reviving series it had left dormant.
Similarly, PlayStation co-CEO Herman Hulst recently indicated the console maker would be open to “leveraging” its property, potentially with third-party studios.
