SNK Corporation has been acquired by Saudi dictator’s company
Occasionally, we report on something that affects us personally as well as the gaming community as a whole. Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft’s sexual misconduct allegations is one example. The developers and publishers caught in the middle of the Ukraine/ Russian conflict is another. The death of a beloved community member definitely counts. It’s not easy by any means, but necessary. So, I am prefacing this article with a disclaimer acknowledging my own personal bias stemming from anger and grief.
SNK Corporation, the video game hardware and software company behind The King of Fighters games, and the Neo Geo platform, is now owned by a murderer. I’m not being overly dramatic. It is the absolute truth. Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman’s company EGDC bought 96% of the company. The acquisition closed in February 2022 but was only recently discovered. Previously, Electronic Gaming Development Company (EGDC) had a 33% stake in SNK.
SNK has had a problematic past, to put it mildly. Founded in 1973, SNK started out strong in coin-op games. Their first titles, Ozma Wars and Safari Rally released in 1979 and 1980. They opened an American branch of the business in 1981 after the success of their side-scroller shooter Vanguard. They continued in an upswing for the next few years. By anchoring the company to Nintendo, SNK managed to survive the video game crash of the mid 1980’s. The move was genius as Nintendo came out on the other side with relative ease. This enables SNK to open a second North American branch, handling the distribution and marketing of the company’s games.
SNK’s rollercoaster rise and fall
In 1988, SNK refocused it efforts into creating modular cabinet for arcades. They were the ones behind the Multi Video Systems, which contained more than one arcade game in one cabinet. The MVS was a hit immediately and duplicated by other arcade cabinet companies.
Unfortunately, SNK flew too close to the sun and crashed down spectacularly in 2000. Focusing too much on fighting games, and unable to adapt to changes in policy, the company’s first acquisition was by Aruze and saw little success there too. Their American branches closed. Capcom Vs SNK games, while successful, saw most of the proceeds go to Capcom as the developer and publisher. Eventually in 2001, SNK filed for bankruptcy.
It did manage to make a comeback through SNK Playmore, who bought back the rights from Aruze and chose to publish its new titles through Sammy. Continuing to do a bit of bouncing around the arcade platforms throughout the mid-2000’s, SNK finally dipped its toes into the mobile game arena in 2009.
Purchased and purchased again
In 2015, SNK Playmore was purchased through a series of outside acquisitions by Ledo, a Chinese web and mobile game subsidiarity of Leyou. It changed its name again to SNK Corporation in 2016. For the next few years, it focused on releasing The King of Fighters XIV and the NEOGEO mini console. Since 2019, SNK Corporation has released several titles on every major console.
In November 2020, EGDC bought a 33.3% stake in SNK, valued at $216.7 million, and stated that it planned to purchase an additional 17.7%. This would have given EGDC a 51% controlling stake. Instead, in December 2021, an offer of over 13 million shares, out of 14, 048,218 was tendered. The offer went through on February 15, 2022, with the Agent listed as Samsung Securities in Seoul, Korea.
The fact that this news is coming out right now is very interesting and not a little bit problematic. EGDC is a subsidiary of Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Foundation, also known as MiSK Foundation. The MiSK Foundation is a non-profit charity group established by Saudi crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Embroiled in controversy, partially due to Saudi Arabia’s bad track record with human rights towards women, activists, and other minority groups, the foundation is repeatedly caught the attention of human right groups.
In 2020, MiSK was investigated by the Saudi Kingdom after several scandals were allegedly linked to the group. The Financial Times reported several people connected with the charity, including Salman, had targeted an ex-spy in an assassination attempt. The court case filed in the US has yet to be resolve.
A murderer in control of SNK
Most notably, Salman is the man directly responsible for the brutal assassination of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Khashoggi, a former Saudi journalist, editor, and columnist for The Washington Post, fled the country in 2017 after criticizing the current leadership. Because that is apparently a serious offence, he remained in self-imposed exile in the US until October 2018.
Lured back to Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Turkey under the guise that he had to pick up papers related to his upcoming wedding, Khashoggi disappeared inside. He was ambushed, suffocated, murdered, and dismembered by 15 members of a hit team connected to Salman. The entire thing was recorded, and an extensive cover up began soon after. The Saudi government denied it had happened, or said it was accidental- because bodies obviously dismember themselves. It took pressure from world leaders before they made an admittance that the murder of Khashoggi was premeditated.
Additionally, Salman repeatedly maintained he had no involvement. But he claimed he would take responsibility since the murder happened on his watch. However, recorded evidence, investigations by the CIA and other sources of intelligence concluded that not only had Salman known about the assassination but ordered it. The reason behind it? “Allegedly to remove a prominent dissident and critic of the Saudi government.”
Translation: cowardly people thought 15 on 1 was the best way to shut down free speech.
The trials that followed were complete and utter mockeries, focused on scapegoats and did not hold those who ordered it, i.e. Salman and his cronies, to any sort of accountability.
Just over a week ago, Turkish courts agreed to move the trial of 26 additional people allegedly involved in Khashoggi’s murder to Saudi Arabia. There they will likely see the charges dismissed. Ta-da, justice is here.
Facing crossroads
Due to Salman’s actions, and now the purchase of SNK, the gaming industry is once again at a crossroads. We haven’t done so great as a whole lately when it comes to pursuing justice and taking a unified stand against injustice. You only must look at last year and the repeated reports about developers and publishers, Moon Studio, Ubisoft, and Activision Blizzard’s horrible actions, and the reactions of the players and studios to see that we have a lot of work to do before this is a safe space for everyone. But we are starting to make some progress.
The acquisition of SNK by Salman is a direct threat to that progress. Allowing a murderer to continue conducting business with today’s major gaming platforms and giving his foundation any sort of monetary gains is a slap in the face of decency and morality.
