Again in December, Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada introduced he was leaving Bandai Namco after many years of main the writer’s marquee preventing sport sequence. His announcement was reflective and heartfelt, and followers wished him properly wherever he was going subsequent. Now, we all know the place he’s going, and oh, no…not like this, Harada.
Harada is now the CEO and director at VS Studio, a brand new crew underneath the SNK umbrella. At a look, that sounds just like the stuff of fanfiction, with one veteran preventing sport legend heading over to a different firm identified for classics like King of Fighters and Deadly Fury, and in principle, this might be a extremely impactful studio for transferring the style ahead. Nonetheless, look just a little nearer on the state of SNK, and the cynical cracks begin to set in. Digital Gaming Growth Firm, an organization owned by the Saudi Arabian prime minister, Mohammed bin Salman, acquired SNK again in 2022 as a part of what seems to be a concentrated effort on the a part of the Saudi Arabian authorities to convey its “sportswashing” marketing campaign to gaming. The nation with tons of cash however a really checkered report on human rights has set about buying stakes in builders and publishers like EA and Capcom, in addition to taking up long-standing cultural occasions just like the EVO preventing sport event.
Harada opening a brand new studio needs to be thrilling, however now it’s bought a large asterisk subsequent to it. It stays to be seen whether or not or not VS Studio SNK suffers underneath its father or mother firm, although Deadly Fury has made bizarre selections for the reason that acquisition, from utilizing AI slop to together with soccer participant Cristiano Ronaldo as a playable character for no discernible cause.
