Introduction
During EVO 2017, the biggest fighting videogame tournament on the planet, IGNLatinoamerica talked with KOF XIV producer Yasuyuki Oda and game designer Hayato Watanabe about SNK's flagship title.
IGN: What is your evaluation of the game a year after its release?
Yasyuki Oda (YO): Well, it was the first KOF after almost 5 years, so the response from the fans is very positive. Although there were some problems to play online and other errors at launch, which were corrected immediately, the response was very positive and the fans are happy with the final product.
IGN: As developers, are you happy with the final product?
YO: We believe there is room for improvement, it's not perfect yet, but until now everything we've came up with to improve it we've done it, so we are satisfied with the current version.
IGN: Can we expect a new entry of the game or will there be more KOF XIV updates?
YO: For now we can't confirm or deny both possibilities, but we are convinced KOF XV(15) will be a reality. Right now we're not sure if there will be a new patch for KOF XIV, but it's definitely a possibility.
IGN: Are there any plans for Fatal Fury or Art of Fighting? Will there be more characters in KOF XIV? Or are you planning on releasing a new entry of these franchises?
YO: Of course we are always considering making a new entry of such series, the problem is the company's approval for we to make it, there are a lot of people to convince, which is very difficult, but of course it's something we'd like to do (laugh).
IGN: Within the competitive scene, what is your evaluation? Are you listening to players feedback? Or is there someone from SNK exclusively dedicated to this area?
Hayato Watanabe (HW): Of course we are always aware of the views of fans and professional players, but that doesn't mean we carry out all the requests we recieve. We want the game to be accessible, fun and not too difficult. We always listen to the opinions of the players, but we are very careful when implementing them. There's no one at SNK who specializes in that (getting players feedback), but I personally make the balance changes, I listen to people's opinions and apply those changes.
IGN: KOF XIII(13) is one of the most succesful entries of the series, is there a possibility of an enhanced version?
YO: At the moment there's nothing planned for it.
IGN: About SNK support for eSports, how do you plan to do it?
YO: We have been offering tournament support for a while, not only in Japan but worldwide. In the case of big tournaments we have offered cash prizes and we want to keep doing that, not only for KOF, but for other games that we publish in the future.
IGN: Will there be more characters in its EX version for KOF XIV?
YO or HW: We are still not sure if we'll have more DLC or patches, but when we released new characters back in April, the fans' reception was very good, so if we were to make extra content, rather than new costumes, we'd like them to be new characters, because that's what fans like the most.
IGN: What are your favorite characters?
YO: Lately I've been a fan of Antonov, because I think he's very kawaii(cute).
HW: Luong, she's been my favorite since the beginning and my preference has not changed.
IGN: Will we have another world tournament like the one in Japan(back in february)? Can we expect something similar to the Capcom Cup?
YO: Obviously we'd like to have another world tournament, but there are many regional events and we must be very careful with the schedule so they don't overlap, but if we do something similar we'd like to do it with our own style without imitating any other company.
IGN: Do you really sit down to play the game and put yourselves in the shoes of a gamer?
HW: We try to put ourselves in the shoes of gamers, not the really good ones, but the casual or standard gamer, and we try to make the game as interesting and fun as possible for that type of audience.
IGN: Anything else you wand to add?
YO: We are developing many new fighting games that we can't reveal yet, but we'd like you to stay tuned.
HW: As long as we keep getting feedback from users we intend to continue updating and improving the game, so we'd like to keep listening to your opinions through Facebook, Twitter and Steam.
YO: Another thing I'd like to add is that sometimes fans call me directly to my phone, I don't know from which country they're calling from nor the language they're speaking, but don't do that please, because most of the time I don't understand you, the best way to do this is through Facebook. I don't know what they're telling me, but they yell at me and I realize they're very passionate (laugh).
