KOF was once a game that was popular just in Asia and South America regions. But KOF XIII changed that. It was a masterpiece with that gave KOF series a worldwide success. So successful, in fact, it sold over a million copies total.

Since 2011, there have been many KOF XIII tournaments all over the world. It was popular enough for even major Street Fighter pros like Tokodo, Mago, Poongko, Xian, Luffy, and many others to play and participate in tourneys.

But as many players studied and dissected the game, problems like balance issues, bugs, and infinite combos were found. SNK was aware of these, but did nothing to correct them. No maintenance was done even after the Steam release in 2013.

As a result, KOF XIII ended up being a stale game where only the top tier characters like Kim, Mr. Karate, and Ex Iori thrived in tournaments. This shortened the lifespan of the game very quickly, and in the end, killed it. In the year of 2015, it was finally dropped out of the EVO lineup, and the attention to KOF XIII naturally faded out.

Therefore, I'd like to start a petition to SNK for these patches to revive KOF XIII.


1. Balance patches

From many tournaments held in between 2011 and 2015, it was very clear who the "broken tiers" were. Balance patch is necessary for these characters who undermines the game's value. A single well-done balance patch is enough to increase the value of KOF XIII.

2. Bug fixes

Bugs like Ex Iori's Rekka cancel glitch infinites, Benimaru's air Raijinken infinites, and Ex Iori's air grab bugs need to be fixed. These can be abused in real matches and give unfair advantage over others. Players like Violent Kane were able to utilize these infinites even in tournaments.

3. Netcode fixes

KOF XIII Steam Edition has better netcode than its console counterparts, but it's still not very good. It's definitely worse than Guilty Gear, Street Fighter, and Killer Instincts. For the sake of people who purchased KOF XIII, SNK needs to provide KOF XIV quality netcode for XIII. Especially because the game speed of XIII is so fast, great responsiveness is critical for quality online matches.

4. And other issues

There are issues with broken replays, in both console and Steam version, where characters sometimes stop moving. Replays are important material for creating video contents for KOF XIII. Lastly, after online match is over, the winning character's illustration being skipped into score screen is also an issue.

It's pretty obvious why SNK has not provided any patches - Cash. Patching consoles, PC, and Arcades is costly. But the fact is that SNK lost alot more money by trying to save money. Had SNK provided any support for the game after 2011, KOF XIII would have lasted longer and sold even more copies.

It's understandable that SNK is focused on KOF XIV right now. But at the same time, if some of those care and attention could be spared for KOF XIII as well, the total player base of "KOF Series" will surely increase, which can only be a good thing for SNK.

Releasing new title is not the only method to generate revenue for the game makers. Maintaining the existing titles well is also an important strategy.

With that, we start the petition to make KOF XIII great again.