SNK Playmore announced at the 2015 Tokyo Game Show that King of Fighters XIV will be releasedย exclusively for the PS4. KOF XIVย will be released in 2016. The game will hit Japanese arcades inย January, though no U.S. release date has been confirmed.
Fans uploaded the TGS announcement teaser on YouTube. Check out the clip below:
This is not the KOF franchise’s first foray into 3D. In 2004, SNK Playmore released King of Fighters: Maximum Impact: the franchise’s first 3D fighting game.ย Maximum Impactย received lukewarm reviews. Consensus among critics showed the 2006 sequelย KOF: Maximum Impact 2ย was a noticeable improvement from its predecessor. By 2008, SNK Playmore’s rival company Capcom unveiled Street Fighter IV, a 2D-style fighting game with 3D character models and backgrounds. Through the late 2000s, 2D fighting gamesย continued making a comeback.ย most notably theย Guilty Gear andย BlazBlue series.
Recognizing the resurrection of popular 2D titles, SNK Playmore went back to their roots withย King of Fighters XII, which featured completely redrawn 2Dย sprites andย 2D backgrounds.
Reaction toย KOF XIV‘s teaser gameplay was mixed on social media. While some welcomedย KOF XIVย as a bright, new addition to a growing list of popular fighting game franchises, others reactedย negatively to the teaser announcement.
KoF XIV looks like hot garbage, why even show that off?
— Skunk (@OhAnimaux) September 15, 2015
KOF XIV looking like pic.twitter.com/zQVB2BWVdQ
— desmond (@desmaku87) September 15, 2015
I'm happy SNKPlaymore is back with #KOFXIV, but that looked bad, should have just reused KOF13 sprites
— Lance Lingos (@lupinko) September 15, 2015
At the TGS, SNK Playmore was quick to note thatย KOF XIV is in its earliest development stages, so the visuals may change.
