SNK has told 4Gamer that its Metal Slug 30th Anniversary Project is not a one-year celebration but the start of a long-term franchise rebuild. Three staff, led by chief producer Naoto Abe, opened up about the new game's direction (home consoles and PC), behind-the-scenes development lore (the tank was originally the player character), and how they plan to turn a beloved arcade icon into SNK's number-one brand. Here is what overseas fans need to know.
Katsuhiro Harada launched VS Studio under SNK. Shinji Mikami's Unbound was absorbed by Korea's SHIFT UP. Daisuke Taka burned through his savings to go solo. As Japan's most celebrated game creators strike out on their own, the capital keeping them afloat is overwhelmingly Saudi and Korean. Here's why Japan's own giants can't fund their stars, and why foreign money can.
Just four months after exiting Bandai Namco, Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada has launched VS Studio SNK with longtime rival SNK as parent company. We unpack the 90s-spirited mission, the Yonemori/Oda reunion, and the divided fighting game community reaction—including the Saudi ownership question r/Fighters can't stop debating.
Blaze Entertainment has confirmed that Evercade's NEOGEO support will continue into 2027, sharpening the contrast with PLAION's faithful-recreation NEOGEO AES+. With six games per cartridge at roughly $5 per title versus AES+ cartridges at $89.99 each, the two officially-licensed approaches to SNK's legendary console couldn't be more different — and Japanese media is calling it the 'Reiwa NEOGEO War.'
Japan's esports association sends its strongest lineup to the Esports Championships Asia 2026 in Jinju, South Korea (April 24–26). Capcom Cup 12 finalist Higuchi, Tekken legend NOBI, and KOF veteran SCORE will compete in a 3-game fighting team format, a dress rehearsal for the historic Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September.
SNK has officially launched the Metal Slug 30th Anniversary Project, confirming a new game in development alongside a retrospective video that ends with the cryptic words 'Mission Reboot' and three vehicles silhouetted on a sand dune. We unpack what this return means for the beloved run-and-gun series, its arcade legacy, its global fanbase from Italy to Latin America, and the Reddit reactions already pouring in 18 years after Metal Slug 7.
