The King of Fighters XIV will add a Saudi Arabia-themed fighter and a Masmak fort stage as downloadable content, SNK announced.
In September, the company Manga Productions held a social media contest in the Middle East to design a character and stage to appear in a fighting game. Over 300 entries were received from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and more, and a character and stage were chosen from among them to appear in The King of Fighters XIV.
To choose a winner, Manga Productions established a selection committee with SNK, and a winner was chosen on October 18. The selection committee consisted of 10 staff from SNK, including The King of Fighters XIV producer Yasuyuki Oda, character designer Eisuke Ogura, and art director Nobuyuki Kuroki, and three staff from Manga Productions, including CEO Essam Bukhary and COO Amr Almaddah, for a total of 13 members.
In the character category, the design of a female combatant from Najd (pictured) by Mashael Al-Barrak of Saudi Arabia was selected. And in the stage category, the design of a modern day Masmak fort in the form of an arena by Zainab Al-Lawaty of Oman was selected.
Both winners were publicly announced at the Misk Global Forum in Saudi Arabia on November 16. SNK chairman and executive director Zhihui Ge, Manga Productions president Badr Al-Azerkel, and CEO Essam Bukhary participated in the ceremony.
A release date for the new fighter and stage was not announced.
The King of Fighters XIV is available now for PlayStation 4 and PC.