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SNK

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SNK Corporation (株式会社SNK, Kabushiki-gaisha SNK),[6] originally founded as SNK, is a Japanese company founded on July 22, 1978 by Eikichi Kawasaki. It produces and publishes arcade games and video games. The name "SNK" stems from the Japanese words Shin Nihon Kikaku ("新日本企画", lit. "New Japan Project").[7][8][9][10] Initially, the company sought to create hardware and software for business customers, but it quickly moved onto the gaming industry.

History[]

Snk-headquarters

SNK's original headquarters in Esaka, Osaka.

SNK was originally founded in 1973 as "Shin Nihon Kikaku" and reorganized in July 22, 1978 as a stock company (kabushiki gaisha) under the name of "Shin Nihon Kikaku Corporation".[11][1] When Eikichi Kawasaki noticed the rapid growth that was occurring in the coin-operated video game market, he expanded Shin Nihon Kikaku to include the development and marketing of stand-alone coin-op games.

The company was nicknamed "Shin Nihon Kikaku" in katakana at first, but since 1981 it has been changed to "SNK" ("エス・エヌ・ケイ", lit. "Esu・Enu・Kē") by taking the initials from the Roman alphabet (Shin Nihon Kikaku). The English copyright notation was also "SNK CORPORATION". It established itself in Sunnyvale, California, to deliver its own brand of coin-operated games to arcades in North America. SNK chose John Rowe to head its American operation.

Snk usa 1995

SNK Corporation of America Office in 1995

In April 1986, the company name was changed to the nickname "SNK", but the registered trade name had to be SNK Corporation ("株式会社エス・エヌ・ケイ", lit. "Kabushiki-gaisha Esu・Enu・Kē").[7][8][9][10][1] This is because the Ministry of Justice at that time did not approve the registration of a trade name using the alphabet, as for ADK, NMK, TDK and RKB Mainichi Broadcasting. In November 1986, the American subsidiary SNK Corporation of America[12] was born in Sunnyvale, California.[13][14] In March 1988, SNK staff moved to a building in Suita, Osaka, Japan.[15]

SNK farewell

SNK's farewell image for fans. Posted on their old official site.

Due to financial problems in 2000, the company was bought by Aruze, the producers of various casino machines.

SNK closes all American, Canadian and European operations, on June 13, 2000.[16][17] The company sold rights to distribution in North America for MVS arcade systems and Neo Print photo systems. It licensed North American localizations of some console releases to outside companies.

With low morale and an unclear future, many of the company's employees left their jobs.[11] Some joined rivals Capcom and Arc System Works, and others moved on to found the developer Dimps. Kawasaki, along with five other former SNK executives, funded the formation of BrezzaSoft, which continued to develop Neo Geo games such as The King of Fighters 2001.

FinalUp

Today it has updated the official site of the SNK company (www.neogeo.co.jp), where it says goodbye to all its fans and clients who since 1978 have made this a company that creates games of excellent quality, mostly over 23 years.

With a total debt of about 38 million yen, SNK gave up on voluntary reconstruction, and on April 2, 2001, SNK applied for the application of the Civil Rehabilitation Law to the Osaka District Court, effectively going bankrupt.[18][19] The application was accepted, and the revitalization procedures were once proceeded, and the head office returned to Suita City, Osaka Prefecture.[20] The district court decided to abolish the civil rehabilitation proceedings on October 1, of the same year,[21][22] and declared bankruptcy on October 30.[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]

Licenses for SNK's game production and development rights to its franchises were sold to several other companies. These included BrezzaSoft, which produced The King of Fighters 2001, such as South Korean-based Eolith, which produced The King of Fighters franchise between 2001 and 2002, and Mega Enterprise, which produced Metal Slug 4. In 2001, the Neo Geo family ended. It was briefly revived 11 years later with the Neo Geo X.

Established as Playmore Corporation on August 1, 2001.[3][30] It was originally an affiliate of the former SNK. Initially, it was a legal company specializing in copyright management services, and it would be incorrect to refer to the former SNK as its predecessor company. On October 30, of the same year, the company won the company's intellectual property rights in a bid made during the bankruptcy of the former SNK. In July 2003, with the permission of Eikichi Kawasaki, the founder of the former SNK company, the company changed its name to SNK Playmore Corporation.[31][32]

In March 2015, Leyou Technologies Holdings submitted a disclosure of interest document to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, highlighting a "possible investment in a renowned Japanese video game developer".[33] Later in August, it was announced that Chinese web and mobile game giant 37Games, and asset management firm Orient Securities had formed a joint venture to invest in Ledo Millennium, a subsidiary of Leyou. Through Ledo, the venture acquired Kawasaki's 81.25% stake in SNK Playmore for $63.5 million. The reason given for the acquisition was to gain rights to SNK Playmore's intellectual property, and further develop them by following Marvel Entertainment's approach to mass media. The joint venture planned to integrate games, comics, film, and television in a media franchise.[34][35]

With the purchase completed, SNK Playmore signaled a shift in the company's strategy, which had previously been focused more on the production of pachislot and mobile games than its traditional area, console and arcade games. In 2015, SNK Playmore announced that it was withdrawing from the pachislot market, choosing instead to focus on console and mobile gaming, as well as character licensing[36] using its popular characters such as Mai Shiranui, Ukyo Tachibana, Nakoruru, and Haohmaru. Additionally, all of the aforementioned characters made their appearance as guest characters in a mobile multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), Wangzhe Rongyao, roughly translated to English as Honor of Kings, which is the world highest-grossing game of all time as well as the most downloaded mobile app globally.[37]

On April 25, 2016, SNK officially dropped the "Playmore" name from its corporate logo and reintroduced its old slogan, "The Future Is Now", to signify "a return to SNK's rich gaming history".[38] A legal name change from SNK Playmore Corporation to "SNK Corporation" followed on December 1, 2016,[6][39] to more firmly establish SNK Playmore as the successor to the old SNK brand and legacy.[31]

In November 2020, the MiSK Foundation, a non-profit organization owned by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, acquired a 33.3% share of SNK through its subsidiary, Electronic Gaming Development Company (EGDC), with the intention to acquire a further 17.7% share at a later time as to gain controlling interest in the company.[40]

In April 2021, three board members dispatched from Saudi Arabia were appointed. EGDC announced its intention to acquire 51% through additional purchases.[41] In February 2022, EGDC's ownership share was increased to 96.18%.[2][42][43] In May, of the same year, SNK notifies the delisting of your shares of the Korea Exchange (KOSDAQ) and EGDC's future plans to acquire all of the company's shares becoming its wholly owned subsidiary.[44] On March 20, 2023, SNK relocated its main headquarters to Yodogawa-ku, Osaka.[45]

SNK is most notable for creating the Neo-Geo arcade system, and several franchises of games including The King of Fighters, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown and Fatal Fury. SNK also helped publish many games including Rage of the Dragons, World Heroes, Ninja Master's and Sengoku along with Double Dragon for the hardware Neo Geo.

SNK has irregularly released games for Nintendo's consoles since 1986. Some of their franchises, like The King of Fighters, would be brought to Nintendo's consoles by other publishers. In 2019, Terry Bogard of the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series joined the playable roster as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate via DLC.

Games[]

This list contains games developed or published by SNK for Nintendo's consoles. Other SNK games can be found on the D4 Enterprise and Arcade Archives pages.

1986-1991[]

Famicom/NES, Game Boy

2004-2008[]

2018-present[]

Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection (Switch) (2020)[]

  • SNK Gal's Fighters
  • Samurai Shodown! 2
  • King of Fighters R-2
  • The Last Blade: Beyond the Destiny
  • Fatal Fury First Contact
  • SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium (2021)
  • Metal Slug 1st & 2nd Mission Double Pack
  • Dark Arms: Beast Buster 1999
  • Big Tournament Golf

Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 2 (2022)

  • SNK Vs. Capcom: Card Fighters' Clash
  • Big Bang Pro Wrestling
  • Biomoto Unitron
  • Mega Man Battle & Fighters
  • Puzzle Link2
  • Ganbare Neo Poke-Kun
  • The King of Fighters Battle de Paradise
  • Baseball Stars Color
  • Pocket Tennis Color
  • NeoGeo Cup '98 Plus Color

Videos[]

[]

Promotional Videos[]

ALL ABOUT SNK【SNKのすべて】[]

Trivia[]

  • SNK had the lowest amount of third-party characters in the Super Smash Bros. series at one and also had the most number of music among all third party franchises, at 50.

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 SNK HISTORY – 株式会社SNK. SNK. Date: December 2, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Results of Tender Offer for the Korean Depository Receipts of SNK Corporation by Electronic Gaming Development Company. SNK. Date: February 15, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Corporate Information. SNK. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  4. ↑ Romano, Sal (July 29, 2021) SNK appoints Kenji Matsubara as new CEO. Gematsu. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  5. ↑ Hayashi, Katsuhiko (December 2, 2022) Profile｜SNK CEO Famitsu Interview. www.famitsu.com. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Announcement regarding SNK Corporation’s name change.. SNK. Date: December 1, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Original SNK Corporation Official website. SNK. Date: January 4, 1997. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 旧SNK 公式サイト. エス・エヌ・ケイ. Date: October 12, 2001. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 A site that mirrors the old SNK official website. SNK. Date: October 12, 2001. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 SNK Homepage Official website. SNK. Date: October 5, 2001. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 旧企業情報. SNK. Date: August 6, 2001. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  12. ↑ Original SNK Corporation of America Official website. snkusa.com. Date: April 18, 1998. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  13. ↑ About US at an archived version of the official SNK Corporation of America website. snkusa.com. Date: October 5, 1999. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  14. ↑ SNK devient un acteur majeur de l'arcade. Neo-Geo Spirit. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  15. ↑ Photos of SNK's headquarters in Esaka (Suita, Ōsaka). Neo-Geo.com. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  16. ↑ Gantayat, Anoop (June 9, 2000) SNK Closing Its Doors. IGN. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  17. ↑ Trueman, Doug (June 13, 2000) SNK Confirms Western Withdrawal. GameSpot. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  18. ↑ 「ＮＥＯ-ＧＥＯ」（ネオジオ）などのゲーム機器の開発･製造 株式会社エス・エヌ・ケイ 民事再生手続き開始を申請 負債380億円. 帝国データバンク. Date: April 2, 2001. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
  19. ↑ エス・エヌ・ケイが大阪地裁に民事再生手続きを申請！. 電撃オンライン. Date: April 2, 2001. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
  20. ↑ Funatsu, Minoru (April 2, 2001) SNK applies for the start of civil rehabilitation proceedings and abandons voluntary reconstruction. Impress. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
  21. ↑ Kitamura, Takakazu (October 4, 2001) SNK abandons civil rehabilitation proceedings and releases "KOF2001" with a different distributor. Impress. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  22. ↑ SNKが再建を断念。発売間近の『ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズ2001』はどうなる？. 電撃オンライン. Date: October 5, 2001. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  23. ↑ SNK FOR EVER. SNK. Date: October 29, 2001. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  24. ↑ エス・エヌ・ケイ フォーエバー. エス・エヌ・ケイ. Date: October 29, 2001. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  25. ↑ SNKが大阪地裁から破産宣告. ZDNet JAPAN. Date: November 2, 2001. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  26. ↑ アルゼがSNK株主より損害賠償請求. ジーパラドットコム. Date: November 2, 2001. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  27. ↑ Lake, Max (October 30, 2001) SNK says Goodbye. Nintendo World Report. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  28. ↑ Seyoon Park, Andrew (October 29, 2001) SNK Corporation closes its doors. GameSpot. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  29. ↑ SNK issues cryptic bankruptcy statement. Spong. Date: October 29, 2001. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  30. ↑ Press Release - SNK Playmore. SNK Playmore. Date: November 8, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 社名変更のお知らせ. SNK Playmore. Date: July 2003. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  32. ↑ Change of our Company Name. SNK Playmore. Date: July 7, 2003. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  33. ↑ Rumor: SNK Playmore acquired by Chinese Company – Dream Cancel. dreamcancel.com. Date: April 5, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  34. ↑ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (August 6, 2015) Chinese Company Buys Majority Stake in Japanese Game Developer SNK Playmore. Anime News Network. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  35. ↑ SNK Playmore acquired by Chinese Company – Dream Cancel. dreamcancel.com. Date: August 6, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  36. ↑ Antonio Pineda, Rafael (November 3, 2015) SNK Playmore Drops Slot Machines, Focuses on Smartphone/Consumer Games. Anime News Network. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  37. ↑ Behind SNK's record-breaking IPO: Policies are heating up the gaming industry, and Junchuang Fund has made considerable returns. stock.591hx.com. Date: May 8, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  38. ↑ Announcement regarding SNK Playmore's Corporate Logo & Slogan changes. www.snkplaymore.co.jp. Date: April 25, 2016. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  39. ↑ Announcement regarding SNK Playmore's company name change.. SNK Playmore. Date: November 1, 2016. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  40. ↑ Kerr, Chris (November 27, 2020) Saudi Arabian charity Misk acquires 33.3% stake in SNK. Gamasutra. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  41. ↑ Seoul, Riyadh (April 7, 2021) Appointment of Three Board Members from the Mohammed Bin Salman Foundation (MiSK Foundation) Announced at Shareholder Meeting of Japanese Gaming Company SNK. SNK. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  42. ↑ KSA, Riyadh (May 18, 2022) The Mohammed Bin Salman Foundation (Misk) Announces Completion Of Strategic Investment In Japanese Gaming Company SNK. Misk Foundation. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  43. ↑ Peters, Jay (April 5, 2022) SNK is now almost entirely owned by the Saudi crown prince's foundation. The Verge. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  44. ↑ Notice regarding delisting of SNK shares on the Korea Exchange (KOSDAQ). SNK. Date: May 18, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  45. ↑ 本社移転のお知らせ. SNK. Date: March 1, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.

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