Publisher responds to rumors in wake of King of Fighters producer's departure, plans to continue publishing games for years to come.
Source: A post on French fighting game site Bas Gros Poing reports that SNK Playmore management wants to retreat from game development and instead focus on its pachislot and licensing out its brands and characters for others to use.
What we heard: The Bas Gros Poing article paints a dim picture of SNK Playmore at the moment, but it may not be entirely accurate. According to the site, after a September change in the publisher's executive ranks, the newly appointed president and CEO wants to take the company in a new direction. As part of that direction, the company would essentially close its gaming division except for ports of existing games and would instead focus on pachislot machines, collectible figurines, and the like.
While the company has been leaning on ports of its NeoGeo catalog of late (like the NeoGeo Station offerings on the PlayStation Network), it still has new projects in the pipeline, most notably King of Fighters XIII, the follow-up to the 2009 franchise refresh. However, to the chagrin of many SNK fans, Bas Gros Poing also reported that King of Fighters series producer Masaaki Kukino has left the company, casting some uncertainty on the franchise's future.
Despite the news, the report of SNK Playmore abandoning game development leaves room for error. The Bas Gros Poing article only states that as a direction that a single person within the company wants to go, not as a company initiative already under way. Additionally, the phrasing of the report seems to indicate that the site's two sources for the news are not actually SNK Playmore employees, but rather people who have their own contacts at the company. If that is the case, such a secondhand report increases the chances of a misunderstanding or miscommunication somewhere along the line.
Fans of the fighting game factory would do well to remember it has faced bleak situations before. For example, SNK Corporation actually shut down entirely in 2001, only to be resurrected in 2003 after company heads went on to find success in the pachislot industry as Playmore. Although the reinvigorated publisher never returned to the hardware market with its iconic NeoGeo system, it did bring back some of its most famous franchises, producing new entries in the King of Fighters and Metal Slug series.
The official story: "In response to Internet rumors from earlier this week, SNK is planning to release a full slate of games in 2011 and expects to continue publishing games worldwide for many years to come."--An SNK Playmore representative.
Bogus or not bogus?: Changes may be afoot at SNK Playmore, but they hopefully aren't as drastic as the rumors make them out to be. Bogus.
Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.
We seriously need news on KOF XIII for consoles. I'm wondering what the hell is going on internally over there at SNK. Sure they assured us of their plans but lately it's been quiet and no major release titles from them. Just the usual anniversary classic games.
SNK need to step up the Neo-Geo stuff on the Ps3, imho. KOF, AOF and SS are great, but there were later, better games on the same hardware and it seems a bit daft to have to go through all the intermediate stuff to get to them. Oh, and the guy who decided to give you limited credits in Arcade mode is clearly a sadist.
SNK Playmore needs to do the following: 1) outsource games development to trusted companies with a passion for SNK's intellectual properties (IPs) Capcom has been doing this for a while. Even SF4 was not developed by Capcom but another company. 2) With a trusted outsourced company, make the following games: *SNK vs. Capcom: Chaos HD Remix for XBLA / PSN / Wii / 3DS (fix the gameplay and upgrade graphics like NGBA for XBLA) and have GOOD "NETCODE" (Online network) *Art of Fighting side scrolling beat'emup for XBLA / PSN / Wii / 3DS / iPhone *KOF XIII for 360/PS3-and make it a beefy port, meaning lots of online features and HAVE GOOD ONLINE NETWORK *Talk to Capcom about Capcom vs SNK 3 and SNK vs Capcom 2
After that last sam sho make on 360...I really hope they can bring back things to what they once were,or better.Kof XII was not anything to brag about either IMO. Let's see a new,good last blade,Cap vs SNK (even though Cap were the makers),heck...make a new magician lord.
I didn't enjoy Kof XII a great deal, but KoF 2002UM is fantastic! Really looking forward to XIII!! SNK are a great company, the gaming world would miss them for sure - I hope they stay around for many years to come yet :)
As much as I'd love a new Capcom Vs SNK, people have to realize that CAPCOM made that. Only thing SNK really did in regards to Capcom Vs SNK 1 and 2 was give them the rights to use their characters. :\ I enjoyed SNK vs Capcom: Chaos; but it wasn't as good as CVS 2. If they do another deal with em we'd get SVC: Chaos 2 or something.... KOF XI was a great game! XII, not so much. I just hope they're still strong enough to release KOF XIII in America on consoles.
Snk is not the only Japanese developer in re-treat Sega,s efforts of late have been poor the taito corp un-heard out-side Japan Namco & Capcom though still going strong but why with up-date franchise of Streetfighter Tekken Marvel vs Capcom3 long term Tekken xStreetfighter Capcom x Tekken & Ace combat assult horizon all on the way.Snk should sit back and take notice
Another cross over is need between snk & capcom & a capcom&snk to help but Snk back it the lime-light of the gaming
it would not suprise if SNK abandon gaming some of the neo geo ports on the PS3 were terriable baseball stars being the worse second was League bowling as for the others not bad.But they been ported to just about every-other console which have been rolled out.Perhaps SNK would prefer to save themselves any further embrasment and roll out a Neo geo hd collection for the PS3 with the entire Neo Geo catologe and a king of the fighters 13 polished for x-box 360 & ps3 users it would be a crying shame to see SNK bow out of the gaming world
If Capcom buys them then it will be very hard for me to play another SNK game. They totally screwed up the SNK characters on SNK vs Capcom even though the gameplay was still fun, Playing as the SNK characters just wasn't the same because none of their moves had the same hit effects, hit boxes, parry's, hit cancels or anything. For Example, on KOF, Kyo's standard Fire Punch, if timed right, can hit cancel an enemy's attack and follow up with an attack from the punch but on Capcom vs SNK, they completely took that away. Another Example, on KOF Dream Match 99 (The Dreamcast equivalent to Dream Match 98 ) Kyo's Flame Special where he sets himself on fire, the Fire can absorb regular projectiles as well as level 1 super projectiles but on Capcom vs SNK, the Same move can't even block a regular fireball. One last example, on KOF, Ryo Sakazaki's Special Combo hits 28 times, on Capcom vs SNK it only hits like 13 times. I would be all for that acquirment if Capcom wouldn't mess with the KOF characters. Now Capcom vs SNK was still a very fun game once those screw ups were overlooked but being an avid KOF fan, I noticed that stuff and it took a while for me to adjust. I would like a new one to come out but Capcom would have to get the KOF characters right.
"SNK Playmore management wants to retreat from game development and instead focus on its pachislot and licensing out its brands and characters for others to use." marvel vs capcom vs snk? yes please!
I too loved SNK once, and I still find their arcade games fun, but let's face it, they really are on a backslide. They seem to be going the way of Atari, which I guess is really the evolution of some game companies. Sometimes you just lose relevancy and that's just the way things go. I would also argue that Capcom should buy them up. Then Capcom could use their characters for some new fighters, specifically another Capcom vs. SNK.
What would seem most logical for SNK at the moment is to get back to making fighting games, and taking their time doing so. The last time they rushed a fighting game for a home console was King of Fighters XII, and we all know how that went. Hope they can release the 13th in the US.
Snk made me spend alot of coins into arcades , specially in 90s with great ( back then ) arcades as Super sidekicks , Street hoop and Metal slug series. Fighting games of SNK had great characters and all but 90% of them missed great gameplay so they always losing to SF series or even 3D games like Tekken etc. So , i can say i was a fan of SNK but not for their fighting games , even if that was their "strong" side. Not for me. Gameplay on fighting genre is what make them top notch and for a reason , SNK didnt make it.
Gee, sure SNK made a lot of great games, buts lets face it, they havent relesed anything new(worth of buying) lately.im not sure they are going to get up again.
@TheSnakeBelmont Respect! :D SNK is awesome, I will be heart broken if they ever stop making games :| There are alot of great suggestions on this thread (SNK Collection 2, CVSNK3, new samurai shodown, dl games). I know you guys can hang in there, you over came your troubles before! They should really start releasing all these Neo Geo games on the game networks. Or do just release the SNK Collections for current gen systems. Just don't stop making fighers!
Man KOF12 was bad but i still have faith in them. I would also love to see a true next gen Metal slug game.
King of fighters is a fight fans dream. heres hoping they go back to what made the series great. last one was a real let down.
I remember 2001. Hard times. They even had that thank you banner on the site before they shut down. We thought they'd fade away but was later on reintroduced as SNK/Playmore. Looking forward to their plans for 2011. Hopefully KOF XIII on consoles being one of them.
Aside from more Metal Slug and KoF13 coming out on 360 and PS3, I wouldn't mind seeing King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match brought out for the PSN too. At least let that happen, SNK. Don't be complete idiots like Namco Bandai.
I want KoF XIII for PS3, and I want it now. Here's why they are losing money: they are withholding games people want to buy.
If releasing more old games is the way to go, why not make a deal with Capcom to re-release Capcom vs. SNK 2 and SNK vs. Capcom? SNK vs. Capcom was panned by fans for having too many bug/glitches. Here's their chance to fix all of that.
hopefully KoFxiii comes out a lot better than xii, they made such an excellent game with xi, but then they made some bizarre decisions and xii came out almost unplayable. maybe its time for a new SNK vs Capcom
I thought that the Arcade releases of their games was enough to keep them afloat, since Arcades are still big in Japan. I just hope that KoF XIII is more complete than XII for their own sake, because we the fans have been underwhelmed for too long, we almost prefer to simply stay away.
SNK were really strong in the 90s, due to the Neo Geo. Now arcades are dead, SNK trying to regain the appeal again. I'm getting a bit tired of these rumours, because SNK is like the gold during the 90s and their carts still go for super high prices. It's still sought today and everyone wants piece of the action to make or destory SNK.
@megakick pay some respect to your elders >:3 ...without snk's fighting games there would be no guilty gear therefore no blazblue.
@Henninger From what I heard Snk got kinda F over with the deal from the VS games and got next to nothing from them,so if that true they need to to make better deals in the future xD.
The best business move they could possibly do is another crossover with Capcom. Those games were fun. They just need 2 add more story 2 them. & somehow make it feel new. Dont really know how theyre gonna do that but they could think of something. So i gotta agree with the ppl below, Capcom vs. SNK 3 gets my vote as well. & take ur time with it cuz we want characters & give em a side story.
Nice , glad to see they are not going any where anytime soon :). Hurray for more competition amongst the fighting genre
snk fighting games are meh the 2-d graphics don't compare to guilty gear and blaz blue. there woud be no crazy hadokens, dragons punches if it wasn't for street fighter snk fatal fury and king fighters is no street fighter or guilty gear. snk needs to make a new world heroes and a samuria showdown.
damn! i never noticed the vicious ng seal. straight outta cujo or sum $#!+i lol glad i can laugh now too....
@manilove2d : hell yeah! im with you! it's about time someone make a capcom vs snk3! cvs2 was released like in 2001, it's been 10 years.(i think they will make it after marvel vs capcom 3) hope it will be capcom vs snk3, not snk vs capcom 2. ( one is made by capcom, the other is by snk, they have huge difference.)
Good job to Gamespot on reporting this news so fast due to the rumor that started earlier this week. I wish Gamespot had an ARCADE section like the Japanese Gamespot site. Come on, there are so many super quality Arcade titles coming out these days like Darius Burst and Metal Gear Arcade, it troubles me they aren't covered by mainstream game sites. Anyway, heres my vote for Capcom vs. SNK 3 !!!!!
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