SNK vs. Capcom (series)



SNK vs. Capcom is a series of crossover games developed by SNK and Capcom  featuring characters that appear in games created by both of these two companies. The "vs. series" terminology originates from the fact that many of these games are fighting games.

As a rule, games in this series either contain SNK vs. Capcom, the first company denoting the company behind the game's development. Games in this series appear for various platforms, including the Sega NAOMI (arcade), Neo Geo (arcade), PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, Xbox, Neo Geo Pocket, Neo Geo Pocket Color and Dreamcast.

History
The supposed origin behind this series was an issue of the Arcadia magazine in which there were articles covering both The King of Fighters '98 and Street Fighter Alpha 3, both of which were released at around the same time. Readers had misread the cover, which said KOF vs. SF, suggesting that there was a fighting game that would pit characters from the Street Fighter and The King of Fighters series. Because of this uproar, Capcom and SNK supposedly signed a deal that would allow them to produce only two fighting games concerning both franchises in 1999 (the Card Fighters series were not fighting games and therefore were exempt from the rule).

It is possible that SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos was made in order to fulfill the contract obligations that SNK made prior to the company filing bankruptcy and their eventual closing in 2000. If one company was the main developer of one game, the distributing company would gain the profits and not the company that licensed the characters for use. SNK gave the rights to use their characters to Capcom for the first Capcom vs. SNK game although SNK didn't profit from it.

There were interviews which SNK stated that it would be possible to renew their contract with Capcom to make new SNK vs. Capcom games  but in an another interview, both companies stated that they would not do any further collaboration with each other, SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS may possibly be the last crossover game between both companies. However, in an interview from January 2009, Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono expressed interest in a possible third game if fans demand it.

While no new SNK vs. Capcom titles have been released since Card Fighter DS, characters from both companies have appeared together in a handful of other titles, including Bandai Namco's Tekken 7 and Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Capcom vs. SNK 3
According to an interview with former The King of Fighters series director Toyohisa Tanabe, Capcom vs. SNK 3 was actually been in development, but ultimately cancelled, at some point.

The interview, originally shared on Capcom's Shadaloo C.R.I website back in November 2017 features Capcom developer Takayuki Nakayama speaking with Mr. Tanabe about the cancelled Capcom Fighting All Stars fighting game. Mr. Tanabe mentions that he was brought in to lead the Capcom Fighting All Stars team after leaving his company of employment in 2001 when it "fell apart for a number of reasons." Tanabe notes that former Capcom director Yoshiki Okamoto was also working on an another fighting game at the time:



"Right before Fighting All Stars got started, there was another fighting game that got stopped during development…"

- Toyohisa Tanabe

"Ah, that would be ****** ** *** *! I've seen several designs and models from it."

- Takayuki Nakayama

During the interview it was also mentioned that a secret character from his old company was set to be playable in Capcom Fighting All Stars. The revealed silhouette, referred to only as “***”.

Games

 * The Match of the Millennium - (1999) A portable fighting game developed by Dimps and released for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. The game features three different playing rules to choose from (Single Battle, Tag Match, and Team Battle). The game features an "Olympic Mode" with themed minigames.
 * Card Fighters' Clash - (1999) Also released for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, a collectable card game featuring trading card based on SNK's and Capcom's properties. Two versions were produced; the SNK Supporter's Version and the Capcom Supporter's Version.
 * Card Fighters 2, Expand Edition - (2000) The sequel to Card Fighters Clash, released the Neo Geo Pocket Color in Japan and Asia only. Includes cards based on Capcom vs. SNK 2.
 * SVC Chaos - (2003) Released for the Neo Geo arcade and home platform and ported to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. A one-on-one fighting game featuring 36 characters.
 * Card Fighters DS - (2006-2007) A Card Fighters Clash sequel released for the Nintendo DS.