SNK Corporation (Japanese: 株式会社SNK, Hepburn: Kabushiki gaisha SNK) is a Japanese video game company. It was founded in 1978 as Shin Nihon Kikaku (新日本企画; lit. "New Japan Project") by Eikichi Kawasaki and started by creating arcade games. SNK is known for its Neo Geo arcade system, which helped the company create many popular game series during the 1990s, including Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, and The King of Fighters. The company continues to make and release new games for modern arcade and home systems. Starting in the 2000s, SNK expanded into other areas, such as pachislot machines, mobile games, and licensing characters for use in other products.

In 2001, SNK Corporation faced financial problems and had to shut down. Before this, Kawasaki created Playmore Corporation to take over SNK's game rights and trademarks. In 2003, Playmore Corporation changed its name to SNK Playmore Corporation. In 2016, the company removed "Playmore" from its name. Since 2022, SNK has been owned by Electronic Gaming Development Company, which is part of the Saudi Arabian Misk Foundation.

History

SNK was founded in 1973 as Shin Nihon Kikaku and became a stock company (kabushiki gaisha) on July 22, 1978, under the name "Shin Nihon Kikaku Corporation." When Eikichi Kawasaki saw the growing popularity of coin-operated video games, he expanded the company to create and sell stand-alone coin-operated games.

The company was first called "Shin Nihon Kikaku" in katakana. Starting in 1981, the name was changed to "SNK," using the initials from the Roman alphabet (Shin Nihon Kikaku). The English copyright notice was "SNK CORPORATION." SNK moved to Sunnyvale, California, to sell its own coin-operated games in North American arcades. John Rowe was chosen to lead SNK's operations in the United States.

SNK released its first two games, Ozma Wars (1979), a vertical space shooter, and Safari Rally (1980), a maze game. Over time, SNK improved its game quality and outsourced development of Sasuke vs. Commander (1980) and Vanguard (1981) to Tose, a company that was not yet experienced. SNK licensed games to Centuri for sale in North America, which led Centuri to begin making and selling its own games when profits were higher than expected. Due to the success of Vanguard, SNK gained recognition. An American branch, SNK Electronics Corporation, opened on October 20, 1981.

In April 1986, the company name was changed to SNK Corporation, using the initials SNK as its trade name. This was required because Japan’s Ministry of Justice did not allow business names to be written in the alphabet. In November 1986, an American subsidiary, SNK Corporation of America, was created in Sunnyvale, California. In March 1988, SNK moved its staff to a building in Suita, Osaka, Japan.

At this time, SNK focused on creating and licensing video games for arcades and later for early home consoles. Between 1979 and 1986, SNK made 23 stand-alone arcade games. Notable games from this period include Mad Crasher (1984), Alpha Mission (1985), and Athena (1986), which became popular when it was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1987. SNK’s most successful game from this time was Ikari Warriors, released in 1986. It was sold and released on multiple systems, including the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Commodore 64, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, ZX Spectrum, and NES. After Ikari Warriors, SNK released two sequels: Victory Road (1986) and Ikari III: The Rescue (1989).

During this time, Japan faced the video game crash of 1983. Nintendo survived the crash and continued to operate. In 1985, SNK became a third-party licensee for Nintendo’s Famicom (called the NES outside Japan). SNK opened a second branch in the United States, called SNK Home Entertainment, in Torrance, California. This branch handled the sale and marketing of SNK’s products for home consoles in North America. John Rowe had left SNK to start Tradewest, which later marketed the Ikari Warriors series in North America. Paul Jacobs took over Rowe’s role in managing SNK’s operations in the United States. Jacobs is known for helping launch SNK’s Neo Geo system outside Asia.

Because of strong sales of SNK’s NES games, the company began creating original software for the NES. Two games were released: Baseball Stars (1989) and Crystalis (1990; called God Slayer in Japan). In 1989, two home consoles were released in North America: the Sega Genesis and the NEC and Hudson Soft TurboGrafx-16. Nintendo released its Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES, SNES) in 1991. SNK did not join the competition between console companies in the early 1990s. Instead, SNK focused on arcade games. Other companies, such as Romstar and Takara, licensed and released SNK’s games on home consoles with help from SNK’s American home entertainment division. SNK also allowed Tiger Electronics to sell handheld games based on its brands.

In 1988, SNK created a new type of arcade cabinet called a modular cabinet. Before this, arcade cabinets usually had only one game. If an arcade owner wanted to change the game, they had to remove the cabinet’s parts or replace the whole cabinet. SNK’s new system, called the Neo Geo MVS (short for Multi Video System), was designed by Takashi Nishiyama, the director of Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters. The MVS could hold one, two, four, or six games in a single cabinet. To change a game, an operator only needed to remove one cartridge and replace it with another. The MVS was very popular because it saved time, used less space, and cost less than traditional arcade units.

SNK wanted to bring arcade games to homes without reducing the quality of graphics and sound, which home consoles often had to do. In 1990, SNK created the Neo Geo family of systems. The company released a home version of the MVS called the Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System (Neo Geo AES). At first, the AES was only available for rent or in hotels, but SNK began selling it in stores after customers showed interest in buying it. Many game series were developed for the Neo Geo, including Sengoku, The King of Fighters, The Last Blade, Super Sidekicks, Art of Fighting, Metal Slug, Burning Fight, Savage Reign, Samurai Shodown, and Fatal Fury. Some of these series continued on later consoles. SNK also published games from other companies, such as World Heroes and Aggressors of Dark Kombat by ADK, Breakers and Ganryu by Visco, and Rage of the Dragons and Sengoku 3 by Noise Factory.

The Neo Geo AES had better graphics and sound than other consoles at the time. It was sold for $599 (about $1,416 in 2025) and came with two joystick controllers and one game (either Baseball Stars Professional or NAM-1975). A few months later, the price increased to $649, and the included game changed to Magician Lord. The console could also be bought for $399 with one controller and no game. Other games cost at least $200 each. The joystick controllers had the same four-button layout as the arcade MVS cabinets. The quality of games on the AES varied. Some, like

Products

SNK is most known for its 2D fighting games, many of which were released in the 1990s on its Neo Geo arcade system. The first of these games was Fatal Fury: King of Fighters in 1991, which started the Fatal Fury series. Other fighting games released later included World Heroes, Art of Fighting, Aggressors of Dark Kombat, and the popular Samurai Shodown. This led to SNK’s most famous series, The King of Fighters, which began with The King of Fighters '94 in 1994. These series include well-known characters like Terry Bogard, Kyo Kusanagi, and Mai Shiranui. In other genres, the Metal Slug run-and-gun series is also one of SNK’s most famous games.

SNK created the Neo Geo (stylized NEOGEO) on April 26, 1990. It was an arcade machine that could store multiple games in one system. Unlike other arcade machines at the time, the Neo Geo used swappable cartridges, which made it popular because it saved space for arcade operators. The system, called MVS (Multi Video System), was very successful for SNK and was the platform for many of its major game series. The hardware had bright 2D graphics and was partly designed by Alpha Denshi (later known as ADK).

The Neo Geo also had a home console version called AES (Advanced Entertainment System), which used the same cartridges. At first, the home console was only available for rental to businesses like hotels, bars, and restaurants. After seeing demand, SNK began selling the console to consumers for $650. Later, a CD-based version called the Neo Geo CD was released. SNK produced the Neo Geo until 1997, and new games for the system were released until 2004. Today, new versions of the Neo Geo, such as the Neo Geo X handheld in 2012 and the Neo Geo Mini in 2018, are still made by SNK and licensed companies.

In the 1990s, SNK made other hardware after the Neo Geo, but most were not successful. The Hyper Neo Geo 64 arcade board, released in 1997, was meant to update the Neo Geo with 3D graphics, but it failed and had few games. SNK also made the Neo Geo Pocket and its color version, the Neo Geo Pocket Color, for the Japanese market. These were later sold globally but were discontinued by 2000 in the West and in 2001 when SNK went bankrupt.

Subsidiaries and related corporations

• SNK Entertainment – started in February 2016 to create and manage new digital entertainment, such as video games. It increases activities related to SNK’s brands and game characters by offering new licensing deals and partnerships.
• SNK Beijing
• SNK Games Singapore
• SNK H.K., Ltd. – manages character licensing and sells hardware and software in East Asia (except Japan).
• SNK Playmore USA Corporation – publishes software and animation in the United States. Previously called "SNK Corporation of America," it handled software sales in the U.S. from 1981 to 2000.
• Playmore Entertainment – creates SNK’s Pachinko machines and the Metal Slug game series.
• KOF Studio – develops video games, including The King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown, and other SNK titles.

• ADK – former developer for the Neo Geo system. SNK bought its game-related assets after the company went bankrupt in 2003. Created games such as Aggressors of Dark Kombat, Crossed Swords, Gang Wars, Ninja Combat, Ninja Commando, Ninja Master’s: Haō Ninpō Chō, Over Top, Master of Syougi, Sky Soldiers, Sky Adventure, Super Champion Baseball, Time Soldiers, Twinkle Star Sprites, and the World Heroes series.
• BrezzaSoft – co-developed The King of Fighters 2001 with Eolith.
• Eolith – co-developed The King of Fighters 2001 with BrezzaSoft and The King of Fighters 2002 with Playmore.
• Face Co. Ltd. – developed Gururin, Money Puzzle Exchanger, and ZuPaPa!.
• Mega Enterprise – co-developed Metal Slug 4 and Metal Slug 5 with Noise Factory.
• Nazca Corporation – former developer for the Neo Geo (Metal Slug and Neo Turf Masters), later acquired by SNK.
• Neo Geo do Brasil – managed hardware and software sales in Brazil from 1993 to 1998.
• Noise Factory – co-developed Metal Slug 4 and Metal Slug 5 with Mega Enterprise, formerly owned by SNK.
• Pallas – developed Eight Man and Super Baseball 2020.
• Sacnoth – developed Dive Alert, Koudelka, and Faselei!.
• Saurus – developed Ironclad, Pleasure Goal: 5 on 5 Mini Soccer, Shock Troopers, Stakes Winner, and The Irritating Maze. Co-developed Prehistoric Isle 2 with Yumekobo, Quiz King of Fighters with SNK, and Ragnagard with System Vision.
• SNK Playmore Europe Corporation – managed software sales in Europe.
• Sun Amusement – published Metal Slug 4 and The King of Fighters 2001.
• Viccom – developed Fight Fever.
• Yumekobo – developed Blazing Star, co-developed Prehistoric Isle 2 with Saurus.