SNK World Championship 2026 Kicks Off on January 29, 2026

Total Prize Pool of $4,100,000 across FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves, THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV, SAMURAI SHODOWN, and ART OF FIGHTING 3: The Path of the Warrior

Osaka, Japan — December 19, 2025 — SNK CORPORATION today announced the SNK World Championship 2026 (SWC 2026), a global esports tournament that will determine the world’s best players of SNK fighting games. SWC 2026 will feature four SNK fighting titles: FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves, THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV, SAMURAI SHODOWN, and ART OF FIGHTING 3: The Path of the Warrior. Qualifying tournaments for SWC 2026 kick off on January 29, 2026, at Frosty Faustings XVIII, eventually leading to the Grand Finals later this year (exact date to be announced). 

Check out the announcement trailer here and the SWC 2026 Official Rulebook here.

Players from all around the world who achieve top results in the qualifying tournaments, held sequentially from January 29, 2026, will earn their place in the Grand Finals. The total prize pool across both qualifiers and the finals amounts to $4,100,000.

In SWC 2026, players will earn points based on rank and placement achieved in each qualifying tournament (excluding LCQ). Players with the highest total points will qualify for the main tournament. All points earned will also be converted into prize money at a rate of 1 point = 1 USD and awarded at a later date. 

For FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves, online qualifying tournaments will be held across nine global regions. Winners will receive both qualification slots and points. The schedule, regions, and additional details will be announced at a later date.

For more information, see the SNK esports official website. Assets for SWC 2026 can be found here. 

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ABOUT SNK
Founded in 1978, SNK CORPORATION is a Japanese video game company headquartered in Osaka, Japan. SNK is an acronym of Shin Nihon Kikaku, meaning New Japan Project, and was the company’s legal name until it was shortened to SNK in 1986. SNK is best known for creating the NEOGEO arcade system and several game franchises, including THE KING OF FIGHTERS, METAL SLUG, SAMURAI SHODOWN, and FATAL FURY. SNK also published classic games like WORLD HEROES, NINJA MASTER’S, and SENGOKU. Learn more about SNK CORPORATION by visiting https://www.snk-corp.co.jp/us/.

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