SNK’s Fatal Fury will be a new esports game at the Esports World Cup

The Esports World Cup Foundation and Japan’s SNK announced they will bring Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves fighting game to the Esports World Cup 2025.

The companies announced a three-year partnership that brings the anticipated retro fighting game to new audiences. The legendary fighting game franchise’s first new entry in 26 years will rev its way onto the global esports scene at the world’s largest gaming and esports event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this summer.  

In some ways, it’s no surprise as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is the major shareholder of both SNK and the Esports World Cup. This deal shows the fund is working in a coordinated fashion in its gaming and esports efforts. But independently of that, Fatal Fur has a lot of fans still.

Credited with shaping the fighting game genre, Fatal Fury will connect its storied legacy with the future of esports, uniting its classic appeal with the excitement of modern competitive play. The EWC’s Club Championship will play a pivotal role in reigniting Fatal Fury’s competitive spirit, introducing the brand-new entry to a new generation of players, and fostering its growth on the global esports stage.

The partnership will accelerate Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves’s debut in competitive gaming, leveraging the global stage of the Esports World Cup to introduce the iconic franchise to new audiences worldwide. 

“Fatal Fury is a cornerstone of fighting game history, a franchise that helped ignite the competitive spirit of the 1990s arcade boom and set the stage for the genre’s mainstream revolution,” said Fabian Scheuermann, chief games officer at the Esports World Cup Foundation, in a statement. “As fighting games and retro titles experience a global resurgence, fueled by nostalgia, competitive depth, and community-driven passion, we are thrilled to partner with SNK for the next three years to bring this legendary series to the Esports World Cup stage. Together, we aim to reignite Fatal Fury’s competitive legacy by introducing it to a new generation of players and fans, elevating its place in the world of esports and supporting the growth of competitive gaming as a truly global sport.”

SNK’s Fatal Fury, first released in 1991 on the NeoGeo arcade system, has captivated fans for over three decades. Garou: Mark of the Wolves, released in 1999, has served as the franchise’s most recent installment, with SNK recently announcing the new release, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, to launch in April 2025 — 26 years after its predecessor.

The game has characters like Terry Bogard, who also appeared in other games like Super Smash Bros. It’s also known rich storytelling, the franchise has spawned multiple sequels, adaptations, and an animated series, cementing its legacy in gaming history. 

Its inclusion in the Esports World Cup is set to revive its competitive spirit while fostering the game’s global growth and inspiring the gaming community worldwide.

“This partnership marks a historic milestone for Fatal Fury, a title loved around the world for 30 years, as it steps into the competitive gaming arena,” said Kenji Matsubara, CEO of SNK Corporation, in a statement. “The Esports World Cup provides the perfect platform to showcase the franchise’s enduring legacy while engaging a new generation of fans, including those watching the great fights live in Riyadh arenas and on screens around the world.”

I spoke with Matsubara last October about reviving Fatal Fury.

“With the upcoming release of City of the Wolves in April 2025, this collaboration paves the way for an exciting future, blending the series’ rich history with incredible new possibilities,” he said. “Together with other landmark titles in SNK’s rich fighting game library—such as The King of Fighters XV and Samurai Shodown—we will continue to be a leader in the ever-expanding world of esports for years to come. We’re thrilled to work with EWCF to deliver an unforgettable experience for players, fans, and fighting game community members around the world.” 

The Fatal Fury announcement adds another revered title to the Esports World Cup’s multi-year lineup, joining a prestigious roster of the world’s most popular games spanning a variety of genres, including first-person shooters, MOBAs, battle royales, strategy and fighting games, as well as one of the most enduring games of all time: chess. With the addition of Fatal Fury, the 2025 event features 20 tournaments across 19 game titles, with more titles set to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Esports World Cup 2025 will once again unite gaming and esports communities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for a global competition that will crown the next Esports World Cup Champion

The tournament’s unique Club Championship cross-game format will reward Clubs and players with points based on their success in the games, crowning the top Club in the final standings as the Esports World Cup Club Champion in the largest-ever celebration of esports.

The inaugural EWC in 2024 featured 200 Clubs and 1,500 elite athletes from 100 countries, competing in 22 tournaments across 21 games for a $60 million prize pool. The eight-week competition and festival drew 500 million viewers online and saw 2.6 million people attend