SNK World Championship set

SNK has set its 2026 World Championship circuit with a $4.2 million prize pool across five fighting games. (snkesports.com) The official SNK Esports site says players will qualify through tournaments held around the world, with Grand Finals scheduled for later in 2026 at a venue SNK has not yet named. The circuit now lists *Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves*, *The King of Fighters XV*, *Samurai Shodown*, *Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior*, and *The King of Fighters ’98*. (snkesports.com) That game list is an expansion from SNK’s December 19, 2025 rollout for SWC 2026, which described a four-game circuit and a $4.1 million pool. The current tournament page adds *The King of Fighters ’98* and raises the total to $4.2 million. (snkesports.com 1) (snkesports.com 2) SNK’s format mixes direct qualification with a season-long points race. The company says players earn points from qualifying events, the top point earners reach the main tournament, and every point also converts into prize money at a rate of $1 per point. (snkesports.com) The circuit starts January 29, 2026 at Frosty Faustings XVIII in Illinois, and SNK’s February 26 tournament list shows more than 40 qualifiers across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Australia. Evo Japan 2026 in Tokyo and Evo 2026 in Las Vegas are listed as “Legend” tier stops for *Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves*. (snkesports.com) SNK is building this championship around both new and legacy titles. *Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves* is the company’s newest flagship fighter, while *Art of Fighting 3* and *The King of Fighters ’98* pull older arcade-era games into the same official circuit. (snkesports.com) The money on offer stands out even by recent SNK standards. In the 2025 finals in Atlanta, SNK paid $1.5 million to the *Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves* champion, and the company said that event also carried a planned $4.1 million pool for its four featured games. (snk-corp.co.jp) SNK has not yet published the 2026 Grand Finals date or venue, and it says slot details for *The King of Fighters XV* and *Samurai Shodown* are still to be announced. For now, the company’s message is that the road to the finals is already live, and the circuit page says only “the elite” will make it to the year-end championship. (snkesports.com)