EVO 2022 was a return to form for the fighting game tournament. It was the first in-person competition since the covid pandemic, it was where Kimberly and Juri were revealed in Street Fighter 6, and it was the first time in 16 years that SNK vs. Capcom was mentioned in an official capacity. That got the fighting game fans talking.
Collaborative SNK vs. Capcom posters were featured at EVO, but that wasn’t an announcement of a new game in the series. In fact, there hasn’t been one since SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS in 2006. The last pure fighting game in the crossover series was from three years before that — SVC Chaos released in 2003.
It’s been a while, but that doesn’t mean the SNK vs. Capcom series is gone for good. In fact, producer Yauyuki Oda has stated that a new entry is finally possible. Speaking to VGC, Oda mentioned that the EVO crossover posters were very well received, meaning there’s interest in another SNK vs. Capcom game. “Definitely in the future, that’s something that I think everybody on all sides [is] interested in making a reality,” he stated. “The [posters] helped us reconfirm that that is probably one of the most wanted things from the fighting game community across the entire world.”
Of course, there are plenty of other projects “on all sides” that are taking priority right now. For Oda’s part, he produced this year’s King of Fighters XV and is continuing to support it with additional characters like Omega Rugal. SNK vs. Capcom 2 director Hideaki Itsuno is in the director’s seat again for the upcoming Dragon’s Dogma 2. As for Capcom fighting games, the focus is, of course, on Street Fighter 6. That’s due to release sometime in 2023, so don’t expect anything further on a new SNK vs. Capcom until after that at the earliest.
