Developer SNK has announced two new characters for its upcoming fighter roster in The King of Fighters XV. Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia are the latest members of the growing roster. Both characters originate from SNK’s Art of Fighting games.
A trailer was released on May 5, after a tease on twitter the day prior. Both fighter’s moves are shown off in the trailer, with Ryo rocking their unique forms of Kyokugenryu Karate. Kyokugenryu Karate is a fighting style utilized by several characters in SNK fighting games.
Both new additions are King of Fighters veterans, having appeared in several games in the series. They are both members of the Art of Fighting Team too. In KOF XV, the Art of Fighting Team will include Ryo, Garcia and fan favorite King. King was not a member of the team in the last game, as her slot went to Yuri Sakazaki, Ryo’s sister.
Ryo and Robert are long-time rivals. The two were the protagonist and deuteragonist of the Art of Fighting series. The rivalry between the two, like Ryu and Ken, is largely friendly.
A slow reveal
The duo’s announcement makes them the 16th and 17th characters added to The King of Fighters XV’s roster so far. SNK has been revealing characters once per week, for the last several weeks. The week of April 21 saw no character reveal, as SNK instead focused on Samurai Shodown by announcing Hibiki Tanake. Chris was confirmed to be the last member of Team Orochi the week of April 28, as character reveals picked up again.
The King of Fighters XV has had a quiet 2020, following its reveal during the last day of EVO 2019. A gameplay reveal arrived in January and since then, new trailers have been coming at a steady rate. The King of Fighters XV is targeting a 2021 release, so expect a release date reveal soon.
