SNK's CEO, Kenji Matsubara, Leaves Role

Mr. Kenji Matsubara, who was installed as the CEO of SNK in 2021, has been transitioned into an advisory role by the company.

This was made known in a statement on the SNK official website, where no official reason was given for this transition. In the statement, he was praised and thanked for his contribution and the company stated that they are excitied for their new direction. 

The statement read in part: "During his tenure as CEO, Mr. Matsubara has been instrumental in driving the company’s growth and innovation. He transformed SNK by expanding its development division and strengthening its sales and marketing functions, building it into a global publisher capable of competing worldwide. As part of this transition, the board will appoint the Chairman of the board to assume the interim role of CEO."

While no official reason has been given for this decision, many have pointed out the poor sales of SNK's latest offering, Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves. The game which came out late last month, was heavily advertised and pushed in every direction. There was even some controversy over adding real-life celebrities, Cristiano Ronaldo and Salvatore Ganacci, which upset some players.

Since then, the game hasn't been doing too well, and while there is a competitive circuit that seems poised to explode due to the heavy financial investment, it doesn't seem to be quite landing for more casual players. 

Kenji Matsubara joined SNK in 2021 after seven years serving as the head of SEGA. News on who the next leader for SNK will be is still light on the ground, but that should change soon.