SNK Corporation (Japanese: 株式会社SNK) is a Japanese company that makes video games. It was started in 1978 as Shin Nihon Kikaku by Eikichi Kawasaki. The company first made games for arcade machines. SNK is famous for its Neo Geo arcade system, which helped create many popular game series in the 1990s, such as Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, and The King of Fighters. SNK still makes and releases new games for modern arcade and home systems. Starting in the 2000s, SNK expanded its work to include pachislot machines, mobile games, and licensing game characters for other uses.

In 2001, SNK Corporation had financial problems and had to shut down. Before this, Kawasaki created a new company called Playmore Corporation to take over SNK’s game ideas. 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. In 1978, it became a stock company (kabushiki gaisha) and was renamed "Shin Nihon Kikaku Corporation." Eikichi Kawasaki noticed the growing coin-operated video game market and expanded the company to develop and market stand-alone coin-op games.

The company was first called "Shin Nihon Kikaku" in katakana. In 1981, it changed its name to "SNK" using the initials from its full name. The English copyright notation was "SNK CORPORATION." SNK moved to Sunnyvale, California, to create and sell coin-operated games for arcades in North America. John Rowe was chosen to lead its American operations.

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. It hired Tose, a company that was not yet experienced, to develop Sasuke vs. Commander (1980) and Vanguard (1981). SNK allowed Centuri to distribute its games in North America. When profits were higher than expected, SNK started making and distributing its own games. Due to the success of Vanguard, SNK gained fame. An American branch, SNK Electronics Corporation, opened in Sunnyvale, California, on October 20, 1981.

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

At this time, SNK focused on developing and licensing video games for arcades and later for early 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 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1987. SNK’s most successful game was Ikari Warriors (1986), which was released for multiple home consoles, including the Atari 2600, Commodore 64, and NES. Two sequels followed: Victory Road (1986) and Ikari III: The Rescue (1989).

Japan faced the video game crash of 1983, but Nintendo survived and continued operating. In 1985, SNK became a third-party licensee for Nintendo’s Famicom (called the NES outside Japan). SNK opened a second U.S. branch, SNK Home Entertainment, in Torrance, California, to handle North American distribution of its home console games. John Rowe left SNK to start Tradewest, which later marketed Ikari Warriors in North America. Paul Jacobs took over Rowe’s role in managing SNK America. Jacobs helped launch SNK’s Neo Geo system outside Asia.

Because of strong sales of SNK’s NES games, the company began making original games for the NES. These included Baseball Stars (1989) and Crystalis (1990; known as God Slayer in Japan). In 1989, two home consoles were released in North America: the Sega Genesis and NEC and Hudson Soft’s TurboGrafx-16. Nintendo released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES, SNES) in 1991. SNK did not join the "system wars" of the 1990s but instead focused on arcades. Other companies, like Romstar and Takara, licensed SNK’s games for home consoles with help from SNK’s American 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 the Neo Geo MVS (Multi Video System). Unlike traditional cabinets, which held only one game, the MVS could store one, two, four, or six games in a single cabinet. Arcade operators could replace games by swapping cartridges, which were small storage devices. The MVS debuted in 1990 and was very successful because it saved time, space, and money.

SNK wanted to bring arcade-quality games to homes without reducing performance. In 1990, it released the Neo Geo family of systems, including the Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System (Neo Geo AES). The AES was first sold for rent or in hotels but later became available for purchase. It came with two joystick controllers and a game, such as Baseball Stars Professional or NAM-1975. The system cost $599 when it was first released (about $1,416 in 2025). SNK later raised the price to $649 and included Magician Lord as the pack-in game. The console could also be bought for $399 with one controller and no game. Other games cost at least $200 each. The AES controllers had the same four-button layout as the arcade MVS cabinets. Some AES games, like Super Sidekicks, were new, while others were updated versions of earlier games. SNK’s games were known for their bright colors and detailed graphics. Examples include Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy and the popular Metal Slug series.

Products

SNK is most famous for creating 2D fighting games that were released in the 1990s on its Neo Geo arcade system. The first game in this style was Fatal Fury: King of Fighters, released in 1991. This started the Fatal Fury series, followed by other fighting games like World Heroes, Art of Fighting, Aggressors of Dark Kombat, and the popular Samurai Shodown. These games led to SNK’s most well-known series, The King of Fighters, which began with The King of Fighters '94 in 1994. This series includes famous characters such as Terry Bogard, Kyo Kusanagi, and Mai Shiranui. In other game types, the Metal Slug run-and-gun series is also a major franchise from SNK.

SNK created the Neo Geo (stylized NEOGEO) on April 26, 1990. It was an arcade machine that could hold multiple games on swappable cartridges, which made it popular because it saved space for arcade operators. The system, called MVS (Multi Video System), was very successful and was the platform for many of SNK’s major games. The hardware had bright 2D graphics and was partly designed by Alpha Denshi (later 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 rented by businesses like hotels and restaurants. After seeing demand, SNK sold the console to consumers for $650. A CD-based version, the Neo Geo CD, was later released. SNK produced the Neo Geo until 1997, and new games for it were made until 2004. Today, newer versions of the Neo Geo, like the Neo Geo X handheld (2012) and the Neo Geo Mini (2018), are still made by SNK and licensed companies.

After the Neo Geo, SNK made other hardware in the 1990s, but these were not successful. The Hyper Neo Geo 64 arcade board, released in 1997, had 3D graphics but failed because few games were made for it. SNK also released the Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Color handhelds, which were sold in Japan and globally. These were discontinued by 2000 in the West and in 2001 after SNK went bankrupt.

Subsidiaries and related corporations

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

• ADK – was a former game developer for the Neo Geo system. SNK acquired its game-related assets in 2003 after the company went bankrupt. It developed games such as Aggressors of Dark Kombat, the Crossed Swords series, 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 – worked with Eolith to develop The King of Fighters 2001.
• Eolith – worked with BrezzaSoft on The King of Fighters 2001 and with Playmore on The King of Fighters 2002.
• Face Co. Ltd. – developed games such as Gururin, Money Puzzle Exchanger, and ZuPaPa!.
• Mega Enterprise – worked with Noise Factory to develop Metal Slug 4 and Metal Slug 5.
• Nazca Corporation – was a former developer for the Neo Geo system (Metal Slug and Neo Turf Masters) and was later acquired by SNK.
• Neo Geo do Brasil – managed hardware and software sales in Brazil from 1993 to 1998.
• Noise Factory – worked with Mega Enterprise to develop Metal Slug 4 and Metal Slug 5. It was previously owned by SNK.
• Pallas – developed games such as Eight Man and Super Baseball 2020.
• Sacnoth – developed games such as Dive Alert, Koudelka, and Faselei!.
• Saurus – developed games such as Ironclad, Pleasure Goal: 5 on 5 Mini Soccer, the Shock Troopers series, the Stakes Winner series, and The Irritating Maze. It worked with Yumekobo to develop Prehistoric Isle 2, with SNK to develop Quiz King of Fighters, and with System Vision to develop Ragnagard.
• SNK Playmore Europe Corporation – managed software sales in Europe.
• Sun Amusement – published Metal Slug 4 and The King of Fighters 2001.
• Viccom – developed the game Fight Fever.
• Yumekobo – developed Blazing Star and worked with Saurus to develop Prehistoric Isle 2.