SNK Is Teasing The Return of Art of Fighting... Probably

Out of the blue, SNK uploaded a mysterious teaser on their official YouTube channel, with a cheeky "Fans Know What This Means" title and only an emoji (👺) for description.

And true enough, this seven second teaser might seem like some random shots to people unfamiliar with SNK's library, but for the fans, this is about as clear of a message as it can be without saying something outright.

There are really just two key visuals you get to see in such a short time span:

1. Tengu mask, a symbol that has been associated with Mr. Karate, who first appeared in the Art of Fighting series. Originally, this title was worn by Takuma Sakazaki, the founder of Kyokugenryu Karate. Eventually he gave up on fighting in favor of running a restaurant, while his son, Ryo Sakazaki, took on the mantle as Mr. Karate II.
2. A coin getting flipped and then caught by an unknown man wearing fingerless leather gloves and an orange shirt with rolled up sleeves. He also seems to wear white pants. Despite how vague this might sound, this overtly points at Robert Garcia, another Art of Fighting OG and a bit of a suave guy. Flipping the coin given to him by his father is one of his signature animations, and while his clothing changes up from game to game, those elements also tend to be associated with his sense of style.

It wasn't exactly a secret either that SNK is working on a new Art of Fighting game, but with the teaser now out, it seems like we might get more news about it sooner rather than later.

Some have speculated that it could also be a lead up to both characters appearing in City of the Wolves, but considering that the game still has two DLC characters to go through in Season 1, it would be exceptionally weird timing to tease content that we're not going to see until at least the Summer of 2026.