SNK

Overview

SNK was a Japanese video game company until 2001. SNK is an acronym for "Shin Nihon Kikaku," which is Japanese for "New Japan Project." The original SNK was founded on July 1978 by Eikichi Kawasaki, but ended on October 22, 2001. Anticipating the end of that company, Eikichi Kawaski founded Playmore in August 2001, which in 2003 became SNK Playmore and renamed itself back to simps SNK in 2016.

SNK is most well-known for the creation of the Neo-Geo arcade system. They are also behind the development and publishing of several famous franchise: The King of Fighters, World Heroes, Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, Metal Slug, and Fatal Fury. Many other games have been developed and published by SNK Playmore, making them a very prominent company. In addition to arcade systems, SNK also created home game consoles and handheld gaming systems. The Neo Geo home gaming console was very expensive and featured nearly perfect versions of popular SNK arcade games. The games for the home console were also extremely expensive at $100 to $300 each. The Neo-Geo Pocket and Neo-Geo Pocket Color featured several handheld versions of popular Neo-Geo games.

Neo-Geo games have also been introduced into the Wii Virtual Console's library. Most Neo-Geo games are available for 900 Wii Points ($9.00 USD).

As of April 5, 2022, the company is 96% owned by Electronic Gaming Development Company, an investment arm wholly owned by Mohammed bin Salman, which in turn is well known for instructing the murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi.