Skip To...
Ken Masters is finally making his way into Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, and he’s bringing the heat with him. SNK officially revealed the character showcase trailer for the fiery Street Fighter veteran not too long ago, confirming that Ken will join the roster this summer as part of Season Pass 1. For fighting game fans, this is a crossover years in the making.
Ken’s inclusion continues the collaboration between Capcom and SNK. We’ve already seen Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui appear in Street Fighter 6, and now it’s time for Street Fighter’s icons to step into South Town. Ken arrives in summer 2025, followed by Chun-Li in winter 2025, making this the kind of roster shake-up that celebrates both franchises in equal measure. Fighting game fans are eating real good these days.
Ken’s Fiery Uppercuts Are Canon & He Feels Right at Home
In City of the Wolves, Ken brings a fully realized storyline that integrates him into the world of Fatal Fury. After years as the fiery champion of Metro City, he finds himself traveling to South Town, looking for closure after being wrongfully tied to an incident that left his reputation in question. His journey leads to a fateful first meeting with the Legendary Wolf himself, Terry Bogard, setting up a new rivalry that blends decades of history between the two fighting game franchises. Players will get to experience this story in both Arcade Mode and the single-player RPG-inspired EOST mode, where Ken investigates a shadowy figure manipulating the people of South Town.
SNK has gone to great lengths to make sure that this version of Ken feels completely authentic to his Street Fighter roots while fully embracing Fatal Fury’s four-button combat system. All six of his basic normals from Street Fighter 6 are present, including command normals, and his familiar combos translate naturally into SNK’s style. Every one of his signature specials has been adapted, right down to his run mechanic. In City of the Wolves, it now uses a quarter-circle back plus punch input rather than his traditional double-kick input, but it retains the same aggressive rushdown utility that defines Ken’s gameplay in Capcom’s flagship fighter.
His super moves will give long-time Street Fighter players a burst of nostalgia. His Shippu Jinrai-kyaku super, immortalized in Street Fighter III: Third Strike because of the legendary Evo Moment #37, makes a return, along with new SNK visual flair, including the iconic horizontal electricity effect. SNK has layered in subtle references across his kit that will make series veterans smile. Like his REV Blow looks exactly like his Drive Impact, his Hidden Gear whiff animation borrows directly from his Street Fighter IV focus attack stance, and many of his air and EX cancel routes will evoke memories of his flashy SF4 and 6 combos. Thanks to City of the Wolves’ system allowing EX move cancels into other EX moves, Ken can chain sequences like EX Dragon Punch into Air EX Tatsumaki for the kind of high-energy spectacle that’s defined him since the beginning.
Ken Hasn’t Lost His Style While Changing Lanes
Although Ken’s face has gotten a lot of flak from fans since it doesn’t scream, “Ken,” SNK has made up for it in other ways. He comes with his classic flame-red gi as an alternate costume, letting players fight with his iconic look from Street Fighter 6’s Outfit 2. He also brings a brand-new stage, a gorgeous arena reminiscent of Ryu’s dojo from Street Fighter II. It’s a vibrant, atmospheric stage that fits Ken’s persona and is one of the more striking backdrops in the game thus far.
The timing of his arrival couldn’t be better. Season Pass 1 of City of the Wolves is shaping up to be quite the exciting DLC lineup. It kicked off with fan-favorite Andy Bogard, and after Ken’s summer debut, Joe Higashi will come out during the fall, and Chun-Li will arrive in winter 2025. The last character, Mr. Big, is set to appear sometime in early 2026, marking the end of the season. All of these fighters are bundled with the City of the Wolves Special Edition, which SNK has emphasized is the only version of the game available for now. There are currently no plans to sell the base game and Season Pass 1 separately, so anyone wanting to play Ken on day one will just need to buy the game.
With Ken on the horizon, fans can start imagining matchups that we haven’t seen in a very long time. Terry Bogard and Ken Masters are exchanging supers in South Town. Mai Shiranui is squaring off against Chun-Li this winter. These are the kinds of crossovers that defined an era of arcade rivalry, now brought back with a “reignited” passion (this was the last one).
Hopes for a Capcom Vs. SNK crossover are at an all-time high after this, and with Marvel Tokon: Fighting Soul already a thing, the flame of hope for a new Marvel Vs. Capcom has all but fizzled out (okay, I lied).
