SNK Corporation is a Japanese video game company. It was founded in 1978 as Shin Nihon Kikaku by Eikichi Kawasaki and started by making arcade games. SNK is known for its Neo Geo arcade system, which helped the company create many 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 publish new games for modern arcade and home systems. Since the 2000s, SNK has expanded into other areas, such as pachislot machines, mobile games, and character licensing.

In 2001, the original SNK Corporation closed because of financial problems. Before the company shut down, Kawasaki created Playmore Corporation, which bought all the rights to SNK's games and characters. In 2003, Playmore Corporation changed its name to SNK Playmore Corporation. In 2016, SNK 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 reorganized on July 22, 1978, as a stock company (kabushiki gaisha) under the name "Shin Nihon Kikaku Corporation." Eikichi Kawasaki saw the coin-operated video game market growing quickly. He expanded Shin Nihon Kikaku to develop and market stand-alone coin-operated games.

At first, the company was called "Shin Nihon Kikaku" in katakana. In 1981, the name changed to "SNK," using the initials from the Roman alphabet version of the name. The English copyright notation was "SNK CORPORATION." The company 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’s first two games were Ozma Wars (1979), a vertical space shooter, and Safari Rally (1980), a maze game. Over time, SNK improved its game quality. It outsourced the 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. When profits were higher than expected, SNK began making and selling its own games. The success of Vanguard helped SNK become well-known. An American branch, SNK Electronics Corporation, opened on October 20, 1981.

In April 1986, the company name changed to SNK Corporation, using the initials SNK as its trade name. This was because Japan’s Ministry of Justice did not allow business names in alphabets. In November 1986, SNK Corporation of America was created in Sunnyvale, California. In March 1988, SNK moved its Japanese staff to Suita, Osaka, Japan.

At this time, SNK focused on making and licensing video games for arcades and later for early home consoles. Between 1979 and 1986, SNK created 23 stand-alone arcade games. Notable games from this period include Mad Crasher (1984), Alpha Mission (1985), and Athena (1986), which became popular after being 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 for use on the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Commodore 64, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, ZX Spectrum, and NES. Two sequels followed: Victory Road (1986) and Ikari III: The Rescue (1989).

Japan faced the video game crash of 1983, but Nintendo remained successful. In 1985, SNK became a third-party licensee for Nintendo’s Famicom (called the NES outside Japan). SNK opened a second branch in the U.S., called SNK Home Entertainment, in Torrance, California. This branch handled the sale and marketing of SNK’s products for home consoles. John Rowe left SNK to form Tradewest, which later marketed the Ikari Warriors series in North America. Paul Jacobs took over Rowe’s role in SNK America. He helped 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 NEC and Hudson Soft’s TurboGrafx-16. Nintendo released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES, SNES) in 1991. SNK did not join the competition between home consoles in the early 1990s. Instead, it focused on arcade games. Other companies, like Romstar and Takara, licensed and ported SNK’s games for home consoles with help from SNK’s American division. SNK also licensed 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 (short for Multi Video System). Before this, arcade cabinets usually had only one game. If an arcade wanted to change the game, the operator had to remove the entire cabinet or replace it. SNK’s MVS allowed multiple games in one cabinet, using cartridges for storage. The system launched in 1990 and could hold one, two, four, or six games in a single cabinet. To switch games, an operator only needed to replace one cartridge. The MVS was very popular because it saved time, space, and money. Each new cartridge cost about $500, less than half the cost of traditional arcade units.

SNK wanted to bring arcade games to homes without reducing the quality of graphics or sound, which home consoles often had to do. In 1990, SNK created the Neo Geo family of products. It 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 SN

Products

SNK is best 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, 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. Later, SNK created The King of Fighters, its most famous franchise. The first game in this series was The King of Fighters '94, released in 1994. These games feature well-known characters, such as Terry Bogard, Kyo Kusanagi, and Mai Shiranui. In other game types, SNK is also famous for the Metal Slug run-and-gun series.

SNK created the Neo Geo (stylized NEOGEO) on April 26, 1990. It was an arcade machine that could hold multiple games on one system. Unlike other arcade machines at the time, the Neo Geo used swappable cartridges, which made it easier for arcade owners to manage limited space. The system, called MVS (Multi Video System), was very successful and helped launch many of SNK’s major game series. The Neo Geo had bright 2D graphics and was partly designed by Alpha Denshi, a company later known as ADK.

The Neo Geo also had a home console version called the AES (Advanced Entertainment System), which used the same cartridges. At first, the home console was only for businesses like hotels and restaurants. After seeing demand from customers, SNK sold the console to the public for $650. A later version, the Neo Geo CD, used CDs instead of cartridges. SNK made the Neo Geo until 1997, and new games for the system were released until 2004. Today, new versions of the Neo Geo are still made by SNK and other approved companies. The first was the Neo Geo X handheld in 2012, followed by the Neo Geo Mini in 2018.

After the Neo Geo, SNK made other hardware in the 1990s, but these were not successful. The Hyper Neo Geo 64, released in 1997, was meant to be an updated version of the Neo Geo with 3D graphics, but it failed and few games were made for it. SNK later created the Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Color, handheld devices for Japan and other countries. These were discontinued by 2000 in the West and in 2001 after SNK went out of business.

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 collection of creative works, including new licensing chances 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 America. Previously called "SNK Corporation of America," it handled software sales in America from 1981 to 2000.
• Playmore Entertainment – creates SNK's Pachinko machines and the Metal Slug 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. SNK bought its creative works when ADK went bankrupt in 2003. Created 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 – 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. – created Gururin, Money Puzzle Exchanger, and ZuPaPa!.
• Mega Enterprise – co-developed Metal Slug 4 and Metal Slug 5 with Noise Factory.
• Nazca Corporation – former Neo Geo developer (Metal Slug and Neo Turf Masters), later acquired by SNK.
• Neo Geo do Brasil – sold hardware and software in Brazil from 1993 to 1998.
• Noise Factory – co-developed Metal Slug 4 and Metal Slug 5 with Mega Enterprise, previously owned by SNK.
• Pallas – created Eight Man and Super Baseball 2020.
• Sacnoth – created Dive Alert, Koudelka, and Faselei!.
• Saurus – created Ironclad, Pleasure Goal: 5 on 5 Mini Soccer, the Shock Troopers series, the Stakes Winner series, 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 – sold software in Europe.
• Sun Amusement – published Metal Slug 4 and The King of Fighters 2001.
• Viccom – created Fight Fever.
• Yumekobo – created Blazing Star and co-developed Prehistoric Isle 2 with Saurus.