SNK Playmore has announced that it is dropping the "Playmore" from its name and will once again be known as SNK.
Founded in 1978 as Shin Nihon Kikaku, the company produced arcade hits like Ikari Warriors and Alpha Mission before creating its own coin-op standard in the form of the Neo Geo system. Titles like King of Fighters, Fatal Fury and Metal Slug would endear SNK to a whole new generation of players, but by the close of '90s the firm had hit financial troubles, forcing founder Eikichi Kawasaki to leave and form Playmore.
In 2001 SNK went bankrupt, with Kawasaki's Playmore snapping up the firm's intellectual properties and hiring some of its staff. Now named SNK Playmore, the firm would focus on third-party publishing but dabbled (rather unsuccessfully) with licenced hardware. Last year, SNK Playmore was acquired by a group of Chinese investors with the aim of turning it into the "Marvel" of the gaming world.
The recent name change effectively erases Playmore from the picture and reaffirms the SNK branding. The company is currently working on King of Fighters XIV for the PlayStation 4, but has previously supported Nintendo systems with a wide range of Virtual Console releases and collections.
Comments 40
I like that. Back to basics. What have they been developing lately? Any good fighting game? SNK was soooooo popular in the 90s.
Neo Geo for Wii U VC please!!!
I'm still dreaming the day they bring Neo Geo classics to the 3DS VC. It would be great to play Metal Slug and some Samurai Shodown on the handheld!
I hope the new owners may carry on the legacy quite well and even bring on some new games for others franchises beyond KOF.
I actually feel there's is a big gamer itchy going on that is all about bringing back the arcade feel in some old school style games. And SNK can do it with mastery. At least we hope so!
Since we are going back to the old name, let's revive an old classic. Baseball Stars was the bomb on NES. Bring it back!
I just checked and King of Fighters XIV has not release date for Europe!
...does that mean they will release more games now... because if not...¯ (ツ) /¯
Nice, looks like SNK is trying to make a comeback. Getting their games on Xbox One with backwards compatibility and making KOF14. Looking forward to Last Blade 2 hitting the PS4 next month too.
Hope they support the NX
I'd love to see an anthology released based on genre rather than series. The Metal Slug and Samurai Shodown anthologies were great, but I'd love to see a more general SNK shmup collection.
Glad to see that SNK is well, back to being just 'ole SNK. Hopefully, we'll see some NX support from these guys! Always been a little disappointed that Neo Geo Pocket Color games never hit the 3DS VC service, sure there aren't many, but what's on the NGPC...damn. Some of the finest handheld fighting games out there, great sports games, a fantastic Pac-Man port, and a few great RPG's (mostly Poké clones, none the less very excellent games) I suppose there is still time too!
I'm still trying to find a copy of Metal Slug Anthology for Wii. I hope I can find a copy.
First Nintendo rebrands themselves back to the old school image, now SNK are rebranding themselves back to basics.
I hope the two work together to develop loads of Neo Geo classics on the NX. That would be awesome!
I cannot wait to see what SNK has in store for us in the future. I love all their games a lot.
I remember wasting soo much money playing Metal Slug at the local Leisure Centre when I was young. The Neo Geo start up is a classic
Wish KoF XIV was coming to Steam or a Nintendo console, hopefully one day. Would love another Last Blade, Garou, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown droooool
KOFXIV looks amazing. I hope the bring both their new and old games to Nintendo hardware.
Rocket Louwnsher!
Maybe now we can get a new Metal Slug or Samurai Spirits game?
Good stuff see what happens now.
Or, maybe.... perhaps... Capcom Vs. SNK2? It's only been 16 years since the last one...
I still referred to them as SNK anyways (Also in before Attack on Titan reference in SNK name : P)
@filterclay I would love that. SNK, SEGA & Capcom arcade glory days. Maybe after the pixel-art rougelike trend passes indies can look at emulating the look and feel of those great arcade pixel pusher boards from the 90's!
I'm down, hopefully KOF will be good, however I've seen the official footage of the new Metal Slug,.... and well woof it needs some work. It looks like a handrawn flash game, hopefully they'll announce 8 soon
I hope they will start focusing on other series other than KOF, despite it being my favorite series. I would love to see either a sequel to Mark of the Wolves 2 or a Real Bout Fatal Fury 3. I think it would be cool to see King in a fancy restaurant filled with tons of people in 3D or Mai running through a beach in her insteps with sand flying up in RBFF3 or see Rock Howard breaking the environment with his moves in a new Mark of the Wolves game. Or maybe see a new 3D Ikari Warriors game that plays like Contra on PS one, or maybe see a 4 player Metal Slug 8.
Miles better name.
Now bring ALL samurai shodown and King of fighters to Wii u Wii store and NX
Everyone should love and respect SNK. I wish they'd make a comeback and make 2D art popular again.
I will always remember SNK for Ikari Warriors and Baseball Stars. I beat Ikari Warriors in the arcades, playing on a saturday afternoon with a buddy at 7/11, in 6th grade. We dumped a ton of quarters in that one. Baseball Stars was a fantastic game on the NES, the best baseball game of that era.
I'm glad to see SNK back...now I'd like a reboot of some of their classics.
Excited to see SNK's big return. Perhaps this is a sign that Konami will do the same eventually?
Curious to see what the Chinese owners do with the IP.
Eagerly awaiting KOFXIV and hoping for another Fatal Fury.
So does this mean we will soon see some SNK Classics on the current gen consoles?? Or Wii u at least?!?
@ElkinFencer10 along with those 2 collections they did do SNK classics on the Wii and the ps2 if you missed it.
@efaulk84 Gamestop or eBay should help.
WE NEED A NEW METAL SLUG. NOW
So the founder of all three companies SNK, Playmore Corporation, and SNK Playmore, Eikichi Kawasaki has no stake in any of this at all anymore? If so that's kind of sad but if it takes completely new leadership to make SNK great once again I guess that's what needs to be done.
This is starting to be pretty promising, especially with how meaty KOF 14 seems to be, and with a release date this summer to boot...but really...I'm hoping for KOF 15 for the NX more than anything.
Hopefully they had big projects in the coming future. I still crossing my fingers for a Metal Slug 7, a new Ikari Warriors, new Fatal Fury (I like this one over any KOF) and Samurai Shodown 7.
Wish they could just remake crystalis like in A link between worlds styled graphics or some Miyazaki like graphics oh and keep the original sound track =[
@Spiders
I really hope so!! There's is some arcady games doing some buzz on steam that I see as a positive trend that will hit harder soon.
Another thing that makes me optimistic is the recent and exclusive release of some NeoGeo classics perfectly emulated on the Humble Bundle. They have released these games as a exclusive bundle by the beginning of this year. Don't know how well or bad it sold, but it certainly got me confident and hyped fo the future of SNK.
There's also the lovelies Metal Slugs on steam released for a while that me and some dudes play online and is a refreshing fun after a hard day of work!
I saw this and got my hopes real high on April Fools haha: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ce7t1yKWIAATScr.jpg
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