Due to positive response to the marketing of
The King of Fighters XIV, director
Yasuyuki Oda said in August 2017
The King of Fighters XV was possible, but the company SNK also wanted to focus on other franchises. Oda instead worked on a spin-off,
SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, a female character-driven fighting game and a spiritual sequel of ''
SNK Gals' Fighters. In December 2018, SNK revealed the company was working on The King of Fighters XV
, aiming to release it during 2020. However, the Covid-19 pandemic caused major delays in the making of the game. They decided to make XV
while they were still working on XIV
but only started development after Samurai Shodown'' was completed. The game's creative director is
Eisuke Ogura, who has previously worked as an artist on the series, beginning with
The King of Fighters 2001. Most notably, he served as the main illustrator for
The King of Fighters XIII and
XIV. The director of
King of Fighters XIV, Yasuyuki Oda, serves as the producer for the title. Oda claimed the team had to "start from zero" as they avoided using assets from the previous installments. The game director was Kaito Soranka who had joined SNK in 2014 during development of
KOFXIV. Oda referred to the game as an "all-star game". He wanted players to get attached to the game mechanics. The Unreal Engine also allowed to improve the gameplay's speed. The objective was to smoothly transition players into a new game and build a system where fans could have fun performing combos.Wb While SNK tried implementing new types of new modes in ''
The King of Fighters '99 through the assistant character Strike or the tag team system conceived in The King of Fighters 2003, the aim of the team was to stay true to the original system they always used since their first game, The King of Fighters '94'', and improved on it. The popular usage of Cross-Engine also decided in SNK using it to appeal to the gamers regardless of where they are playing it. At
Evo 2019, SNK announced that the game was in development. Thanks to the Unreal Engine, the team could create more cinematic cutscenes during rivals' clashes than in the previous games where they just moved the fighters. The Unreal Engine also allowed the characters to be given more facial expressions when interacting. Originally, the game was set to be released in 2020. However, in late December, Oda and Ogura revealed the game would see release in 2021 with more content yet to be explored. During these announcements, the two developers revealed sketches of Shun'ei,
Kyo Kusanagi and
Benimaru Nikaido, with the former being set to be the protagonist of the new game. Ogura called it "our most ambitious
KOF yet". The trailer was, instead, revealed the next day and included game footage of Kyo, Shun'ei, Benimaru,
K',
Mai Shiranui and
Leona Heidern, while also confirming a 2021 release. The team focused on improving the visuals and increasing the fast-paced gameplay by adding new elements. The game was developed for PC and
ninth generation of consoles, and supports
ray tracing on these platforms. The
PlayStation 4 version was also created with fans of
The King of Fighters XIV in mind: SNK wanted to release the game while the console was still popular and expects this version to be used during major tournaments. Much attention to the character lineup was given due to the worldwide popularity of the series. In total, around 400 people were involved with game's development. In February 2021, Oda announced on his personal
Twitter account that the team is working on implementing rollback-based
netcode for the game. The team aimed to improve the gameplay and graphics while also providing a more interesting story than the one from
XIV. SNK later confirmed that they were using
GGPO for their rollback implementation. In promoting the title, anime director
Masami Ōbari (who previously worked on
Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture and 1995
Technōs'
Neo Geo fighting game title
Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer along with the
OVA adaptation) created and directed a short anime based on the series, with his animation studio, G-1Neo, producing the short anime. The song "Now or Never" by Steven McNair plays during the short, and is also used as the main theme of the game. Since the game takes after
KOFXIV, the music was made to feel like the previous installment's while focusing that each theme represents the character's personality. The decision to revive characters killed off in previous
KOF games was made during
XIVs development and was based on
XIIIs themes of energies connecting the past to the present through space and time and Oda wondering how that would affect things in the future. The deceased characters returning for
XV were chosen based on fan requests and the aim of the roster was for it to have a 'fresh and festive feel'. They feel like the gathering of the
KOF Heroes as well as the return of Team Sacred Treasures and Team Orochi helped them achieve this feeling. They brought back Clemence Bellamy, the story mode announcer from
XIV, to appeal to the "tournament-likeness" of
KOF and acknowledge that he was well received. While Kyo and Iori are always written as rivals, Ureshino remarks that Kyo's existence is importance for the latter as he believes, should Kyo ever die, Iori will not find his existence meaningful, making them an important relationship. Despite Shun'ei being the protagonist the story will explore Isla's character as well. Ogura is in charge of the whole of
KOF XV, including not only the characters but also the interface and 3D modeling, and Naakta am mainly in charge of illustrations and character design. Nakata's works were approved by Ogura. Ogura wanted to use Terry Bogard as part of Shun'ei's Hero Team because he is a disciple of Tung, just like newcomers Meitenkun and Shun’ei. He thought he would be in the best position to watch over them. However, in the end we chose
Benimaru Nikaido as a proposal from fellow busy character Kyo Kusanagi, as Benimaru is just good enough to take care of others whereas Kyo was requested by fellow fighter
Chizuru Kagura join her team. In the end, Ogura was glad with this decision. Character design is being handled by Tomohiro Nakata, who is also working on
The King of Fighters All Star. Tomohiro Nakata tried staying faithful to previous illustrators' works. The designs for Isla and Dolores were done by him and Ogura until halfway through, and then Saji, a designer for the
Samurai Shodown reboot, all together. It got pretty tense, so they got Saji to help us out as we went along. They were given text about Isla's background and Dolores' character settings, and thus made sure that these were clear at a glance. For Isla, we were conscious of giving her a street feel, like she is painted with spray paint, and for Dolores, we were conscious of giving her an ethnic feel with the patterns on her shoulders and clothes. Many returning characters received cosmetic changes. For example, Kyo Kusanagi was altered to overall look closer to his earlier appearances in the series, but different in other parts of his design like his jacket and gloves. Ogura said that while there are several characters like Athena Asamiya and Benimaru who are often revised, there are also fighters he cannot see without their unique outfits, specifically pointing Mai Shiranui. Although SNK did not confirm his identity, artist Hiroaki was more open about it, calling him the revival of K9999. Among other characters, the previous subboss, Antonov, became a playable character as a regular member of the cast. Oda stated that he was further changed based on the team's idea in regards of a manager. The series' official website was updated with story prologues during development of the game. Although the game gave closure to Shun'ei's character arc, SNK is not satisfied with the result, believing they could still focus on his role again. Asanaka explained that all the sound staff had a sense of the
KOF feel, even without saying it out loud, and that he personally wanted players to feel that it was a sequel to
KOF XIV. Youchiro Soeda worked from his house due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so he drew storyboards that went on to become cinematics. In July 2021, SNK announced that the game would be released on
PlayStation 4,
PlayStation 5,
Windows, and
Xbox Series X/S via the
Microsoft Store,
Epic Games Store and
Steam. The game's international release is handled by the
Embracer Group's
Koch Media. A demo became available in
Tokyo Game Show 2021 featuring a total of eight playable characters. Downloadable content for the game include Terry Bogard's design from
Garou: Mark of the Wolves and Leona Heidern's classic look from ''
The King of Fighters '96 to The King of Fighters 2003''. Other releases of the game include a two disc soundtrack and a 119-page artbook. Oda claims the game is being developed in order to be enjoyed for years after its release. As such, additional characters were added as downloadable content, with four teams released during 2022 as part of a
season pass. The first, Garou Team, was released on March 17 for most platforms, but was delayed until the next day on Steam. In addition, a free update on April 14 added Omega Rugal as a playable character to the game, and introduced the new Boss Challenge mode. Players who beat the stronger
boss version of Rugal are rewarded with music, alternate costume, and a new stage. Rugal's popularity has continued even to his appearance in
The King of Fighters XV, with Nakata surprised by how acclaimed the decision to include Rugal was. The second, South Town Team was released on May 16, along with music from KOF Neowave in a DJ Station Update. The third, Awakened Orochi Team, composed of powered up versions of Chris, Shermie and Yashiro was released on August 8. The fourth, Samurai Team was released on October 4. Six additional characters were also released as paid DLC throughout 2023 as part of a second season pass, along with a patch adding
cross-platform play to all platforms and a second Boss Challenge in the form of Goenitz, who, like Omega Rugal, sports another unlockable outfit should he be defeated.{{cite web|url=https://www.latercera.com/mouse/the-king-of-fighters-xv-recibira-cross-play-el-20-de-junio/|title=The King of Fighters XV recibirá cross-play el 20 de junio == Reception ==