Bought by Saudi Arabia, SNK reassures players, there will be no censorship

Avril 2022, we learned of the takeover of SNK by Saudi Arabia (through the company Electronic Gaming Development Company, which is a subsidiary of MiSK, the foundation of Mohammed bin Salman) at 96%. This appetite for video games obviously has a goal: to allow the country to diversify its business and make its transition with the oil sector, which will obviously experience a decline sooner or later. We recall that Mohammed ben Salmane is passionate regarding video games, especially everything related to the NeoGeo, and the latter has already invested in the capital of Activision, Electronic Arts, Take Two Interactive, Naxon, Capcom and more recently Nintendo. A controversial man, his entry into the capital of video game companies around the world is obviously not viewed favorably by the public. In an interview with VGC as part of gamescom, Yasuyuki Oda (producer of the KOF series and “new” SNK strongman) answered questions regarding this takeover by Saudi Arabia. He wanted to reassure the players regarding the freedom of expression that the Japanese company retains despite this almost total stake.

About us, we only focus on making games. We’re not a political company or anything like that, so it doesn’t affect us in any way. This has no effect on our creative output.

Asked regarding the issue of inclusivity, including LGBT characters, Yasuyuki Oda insisted that SNK remains in control of its creations.

We have complete freedom over what we want to do. And then honestly, the results speak for themselves. For example, if this was a real problem, then characters like Shermie probably wouldn’t be in the game. What I can tell you is that our owners are generally fans of IP, and they are forever, so it’s up to us what we want to do when it comes to content creation.

Like Quantic Dream, which reassured players regarding its total takeover by NetEase Games a few weeks ago, the arrival of Saudi Arabia will therefore have no impact on the creation of games and their content. It should therefore be remembered that Mohammed ben Salmane is above all a lover of the NeoGeo and that his interest is above all to make an increasingly lucrative business prosper, with the success of KOF XV, Samurai Shodown and the announcement of old past glories such as Fatal Fury / Garou Mark of the Wolves. Saudi Arabia will perhaps give the means of its ambitions to an SNK which only asks to shine with a thousand lights, as in the 80s and 90s.