As the series approaches its 27th year, The King of Fighters 15 is one of several fighting games announced with a release expected later on this year. While fans have praised the latest entry The King of Fighters series for its presentation and weekly announcements, fans have shown concerns regarding online gameplay. As a stable online experience is a necessity in relation to current world events, fans waited patiently for SNK to make an announcement, with last week being the perfect time to address the issue.
During the Japan Fighting Game Publisher's Roundtable event held last weekend, various developers representing various fighting games came together to announce the development of their titles as well as the current climate of fighting games. SNK's lack of an announcement addressing stable online gameplay for The King of Fighters 15 disappointed fans, with some venting their frustrations on social media. It was enough to gain the attention of developer Yasuyuki Oda as he took to Twitter to acknowledge the situation.
Oda acknowledged the trending topic, #SNKRollback, a rallying cry from King of Fighter fans who advocated for rollback netcode. He also assured players that the dev team has been working on an "internal rollback solution" for the fighter while the development of KOF 15 is in its early stages. Until the development team feels ready to make further announcements, it's a work in progress.
Due to the shift in activity from an offline to an online environment in response to COVID-19 concerns, developers have brainstormed methods to keep the fighting game scene as close to an offline experience as possible. An effective method is implementing rollback netcode as opposed to delayed-based, evident by the success of its titles. Guilty Gear Strive enjoyed a successful beta, with players praising its netcode while another SNK title, The King of Fighters '02 Ultimate Match had seen a resurgence.
The King of Fighters 15 releases sometime in 2021.