According to Yasuyuki Oda, the way SNK will make games will not change because of the sale of the company. Earlier this year in February, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s PIF bought 96% of SNK. Even though the process of the takeover began 2 years ago, the news about the takeover became public much later in April. The foundation initially purchased a 36% stake in SNK, which quickly turned into 51% controlling interest. And now, SNK is pretty much entirely owned by PIF.

SNK is not alone in this, as PIF has a minority stake in multiple other gaming companies including Nintendo, Capcom, Nexon, Activision Blizzard, Embracer Group, and even Take-Two.

While purchasing a stake in video game companies is nothing new, where things get a little sticky is when no one likes the purchasers. That is the case here, as human rights abuse in the country is a major sore spot, and this raises questions about how the company will change under this new leadership. PIF has dismissed these concerns saying that the country is not like it was. And even SNK’s senior employees aren’t worried.

Will SNK Change After The Sale?

Yasuyuki Oda, producer, and designer, said that the new leadership will not change the studio’s workflows and creative goals. He said that for them, they will always focus on making games. That SNK is not a political company, so this purchase will not affect how the company functions.

He continued that SNK’s creative output will remain unchanged after the sale, and they will continue to make what they what to make.

“Yeah, I would say honestly, the results speak for themselves. Like, if it were an actual problem, then characters like Shermie probably wouldn’t be in the game. One thing we would say is that our ownership are generally fans of the IP, and they have been forever, so it’s up to us what we want to do as far as creating content goes.”

If what he says is true, then maybe he can make his dreams come true. He recently said that he wanted to get Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings to Samurai Shodown. That would be a crossover for the ages.