King of the Fighters XIV will attempt to take the fighting game crown on August 23rd, according to a tweet and subsequent post on the official U.S. PlayStation Blog by the game’s publisher, Atlus.
In addition to the release date, Atlus also showed off a nifty collectible steel book case for those who pre-order, or pick the game up on day one.
Pre-order/Day One Editions of KOF XIV will include a collectible SteelBook™ emblazoned with the fiery Kyo Kusanagi! pic.twitter.com/jKYyOkwKEe
— Official ATLUS West (@Atlus_West) April 25, 2016
We also received a glimpse into the story of King of the Fighters XIV.
Apparently, a billionaire known as Antinov has used his immense fortune to buy the rights to the King of Fighters tournament. He then decides to crown himself with the title of “first champion” and proceeds to begin inviting and recruiting the world’s best fighters to a brand new King of Fighters tournament.
Developer SNK has high hopes for King of Fighters XIV. In a late 2015 interview with the Japanese gaming magazine, Famitsu, King of Fighters’ long-time series producer, Yasuyuki Oda divulged that the new entry in the KOF series is meant as the first step in taking back the company’s title as “number 1 in fighting games.”
King of Fighters XIV will have some tough competition to beat in order to become number 1. Street Fighter V has already released and will feature as this year’s main event at the EVO 2016 fighting game tournament, while a number of other fighting games are either scheduled to release this year, or are already out and will receive significant updates throughout the year. You can check out NerdBacon’s round up of all the fighting game action that 2016 has to offer right here.
Are you ready to reign supreme when King of Fighters XIV launches exclusively for the PlayStation 4? Make your proclamations in the comments section below.