King of Fighters XV is no longer coming out this year.
It has been announced that King of Fighters XV has been delayed. On the official SNK website, it was revealed that the upcoming fighter has been pushed to Q1 of 2022. The game was originally meant to release sometime this year. According to SNK, COVID-19 is affecting development of the title, and that the quality of the game comes first, leading to the delay.
"There are many fans who are anticipating the release of KOF XV in 2021, however, at this point in time, we unfortunately have to announce that KOF XV will now be launching within the 1st quarter of 2022," stated Yasuyuki Oda, producer of King of Fighters XV.
"The development timeline we set out to reach in the beginning has been affected by the ever-still rising cases of COVID-19 within Japan. We have made the ultimate decision in the end that the product's quality must come first, and so with that decision comes an altered release window.
"We sincerely ask for your kind patience and understanding as our development teams continue to work hard on KOF XV as we draw closer to its release."
King of Fighters XV was confirmed late last year. A trailer was released earlier this year, giving us a taste as to what we can expect from the title when it releases. According to SNK, the game will feature a 22 fighter roster when it releases. Since the confirmation of the game, SNK has released a large number of character trailers (all of which can be seen here), showing off all of the playable characters. The trailers have shown off characters such as Mai Shiranui, Terry Bogard, Leona, and Shun' Ei.
King of Fighters XV will release in early 2022. It is currently unknown which platforms that the fighter will release on.
