The King of Fighters XV delayed until 2022, fans left overjoyed

Due to a rising spike in Coronavirus cases in Japan, The King of Fighters XV's development cycle has been extended putting the game’s estimated release date sometime in Q1 2022 according to publisher SNK Corp.

Last week’s character reveal delivered plenty of excitement in showing off Blue Mary’s updated visuals and faithfully recreated moveset, but for the second time since SNK began releasing their weekly trailers this past January the character silhouette tease normally released the night before the latest reveal was absent from the publisher’s official Twitter feed.

It was speculated that the extended gameplay trailer for the forthcoming Samurai Shodown DLC character Amakusa would be taking its place as was the case with Samsho’s last character trailer for crossover character Hibiki Takane, and while this did prove correct, the disappointment it brings to KOF fans has been compounded with the news brought on by a late news release from the developers at SNK announcing that the game’s development cycle had been extended and its release delayed from late 2021 into the first quarter of 2022.

This is due primarily to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, which has spiked heavily across Japan in the past month and is putting tremendous strain on the national healthcare system which itself is also having to contend with the imminent Olympic Summer Games being hosted in Tokyo, despite public outcry against the event due to health and safety concerns and the current nationwide state of emergency which was just extended to June 20th amid rising case counts and worries around increased travel, variants of concern and a low national vaccination rate.

While delays always bring some degree of disappointment, it worth being said that the community response in this case has been markedly positive on the surface, with SNK community manager Jonathan “KRISPYKAISER” Campana taking to his personal Twitter to send a message of gratitude to fans for their patience and support in the wake of the news.

It’s also worth noting that the games in development now are releasing in a wildly different consumer landscape than they otherwise would have been, not only because of the pandemic but also because of how devs and publishers’ outlook on the expectations of their community has changed in that same time frame.

It may seem like old news at this point, but Cyberpunk 2077’s mismanaged development, borderline fraudulent marketing, and botched release remains the biggest scandal the industry has seen in at least the past decade and may yet prove to be a watershed moment in delivering the message consumers have been trying to convey for years (one Cyberpunk's developers are still in the process of learning): communication is key.

With that in mind, it’s safe to say SNK is making the right decision announcing the news immediately, or at least within a reasonable timeframe from when their decision was made internally, and this is evidenced by the reactions from their audience which range from good-natured ribbing to supportive acceptance, a jovial and unexpectedly far cry from what an announcement like this would normally engender from such a dedicated base of fans, and best of all one that makes this article's headline only partially hyperbolic.

There was a time not too long ago when only the most fervent shill would try to spin a delay as a positive, even as beneficial to the final product, but in the post-Cyberpunk/mid-pandemic world it seems that with the right communication and a degree of transparency we’re all willing to be a little more patient and a little more optimistic, and as we battle COVID together that’s exactly what the world needs more of.

The King of Fighters XV is due out in Q1 2022

All images property of SNK Corp.