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NEWS: Saudi Arabian Organization MiSK Foundation Plans to Purchase Majority Stake in SNK




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Ann917813



Joined: 23 Nov 2020
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Sat Nov 28, 2020 4:35 am Reply with quote
SNK just keeps being a major disappointment since last year. They sold out to Epic Games, then China, and now Saudi Arabia. It's really sad how Japanese companies has been abandoning their Japanese ways for more of that international fame and money.
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WANNFH



Joined: 13 Mar 2011
Posts: 975
PostPosted: Sat Nov 28, 2020 4:51 am Reply with quote
Ann917813 wrote:
SNK just keeps being a major disappointment since last year. They sold out to Epic Games, then China, and now Saudi Arabia.
Ehm, they were Chinese before EGS even created, duh - and that was actually the best thing that happened for them in the recent years - before being purchased by Chinese company, SNK Playmore done literally nothing but leeching on old franchises with cheap mobages and pachinko machines (which they threw away as part of the business after the purchase as part of a brand restoration) and predatory sitting on their rights (someone remember the whole claims situation with Hi-Score Girl that didn't let author to make new volumes and put already announced anime on the shelf for years? Yep, it ended good only AFTER the purchase of SNK by Leyou). And now they at least got back to the fighting games market.
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NiPah
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Joined: 11 Feb 2011
Posts: 180
PostPosted: Sat Nov 28, 2020 6:45 am Reply with quote
I’m sure this is to make games based around Saudi lore similar to their anime ventures, but I’m not sure what warrants such an investment in SNK to do so.
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Heishi



Joined: 06 Mar 2016
Posts: 1125
PostPosted: Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:47 am Reply with quote
Never thought I would see a Saudi company own a video game company.

Didn’t think a country like that even knew what SNK was.
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Lord Geo



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 1876
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
PostPosted: Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:30 am Reply with quote
Heishi wrote:
Didn’t think a country like that even knew what SNK was.


SNK games have always been popular in the Middle East, so this isn't completely surprising. That'd be like saying that the Middle East doesn't know what anime is, come on. SNK even held a contest just for Saudi artists to design a character, which resulted in KOF XIV DLC character Nadj. Similar to how XIV's Hero Team comes from China & the creation of the Brazil Team, the current SNK wants to pay it back to the non-Japan regions that have always supported them the most.

Unfortunately, this is just another example of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, who's the majority owner of the foundation purchasing these shares in SNK, taking advantage of his status & wealth to just outright buy the stuff he was likely nostalgic for as a child (he's 35, after all). Similarly, this is obviously his attempt at entering the video game business, but knows that simply starting his own company would likely bomb hard for a variety of reasons (a possible lack of experienced devs in Saudi Arabia, the possibility of no one wanting to work with them, due to their shady [& murderous] past, etc.), so he's deciding to simply become the majority stockholder in a company with an established history. That way, he effectively inherits a studio that already has experienced staff, but can now start enforcing things that he wants.

It's a shame it's come to this and, while this sounds harsh, I can only hope that this whole endeavor results in the re-death of SNK. Then the Prince can wipe his hands of this, and someone else can come in & save SNK once again.
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wolf10



Joined: 23 Jan 2016
Posts: 463
PostPosted: Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:53 pm Reply with quote
Next, he needs Laurent Thierry to refer him to a certain rising-star Japanese game developer...
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xerox-guy



Joined: 20 Feb 2017
Posts: 40
PostPosted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 3:36 am Reply with quote
Heishi wrote:
Didn’t think a country like that even knew what SNK was.


Lol. I don't know what do you think of saudi arabia, but we saudis don't ride camels or live in tents. Last year in november, FLOW and asian kung-fu generation and linked horizon did an awesome show in Riyadh.
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 4338
PostPosted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 6:22 pm Reply with quote
Ann917813 wrote:
SNK just keeps being a major disappointment since last year. They sold out to Epic Games, then China, and now Saudi Arabia. It's really sad how Japanese companies has been abandoning their Japanese ways for more of that international fame and money.


....Have you seen the Japanese gaming industry lately or better yet remember where SNK was in 2001?
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