The King of Fighters XIV

The King of Fighters XIV (KOF XIV) is an upcoming installment of The King of Fighters series. It was first announced during the SCEJA Press Conference 2015. This game will begin another canonical saga for the series. Garou: Mark of the Wolves battle designer, Yasuyuki Oda, will be the director.

Oda said in an interview with 4Gamer that the main goal for this title is to make it "the easiest to play" of the series. According to him, the two major reasons for making the transition to 3D is to adapt to high-end machines and give 3D experience to SNK so they can compete in the console market again. He thinks it's difficult to properly convey the KOF cast's charm in 3D but expects the models to continue improving from its initial revealing. Oda hopes to cater to fans of KOF '98, KOF 2002 and KOF XIII with this game's mechanics. He aspires to improve the online matchmaking for this entry.

Gameplay
Unlike previous main entries, which employed hand-drawn sprite animation,The King of Fighters XIV uses 3D models more akin to the KOF: Maximum Impact series. However the fighting area remains on a strictly two-dimensional plane and keeps the same basic mechanics as its predecessors.
 * A new Max mode system allows access to EX moves; activating this state requires one bar of the power gauge.
 * Using three bars of the power gauge can allow players to unleash Climax supers. Repeatedly hit the light punch button to perform an automatic combo attack called Rush mode; this will do lower damage compared to normal combo attacks.
 * The CD thrust system now causes opponents to hit the wall and vulnerable to follow-up attacks.

Characters
The roster is confirmed to have a size of 50 characters; 16 default teams of three and two solo characters (the preview gameplay demonstrated at PlayStation Experience showed four solo slots but it is possible the character selection screen has yet to be finalized).

Returning Fighters

 * Kyo Kusanagi
 * Iori Yagami
 * Leona Heidern
 * Chang Koehan
 * Andy Bogard
 * Ralf Jones
 * Billy Kane
 * Kula Diamond
 * King
 * Angel
 * Robert Garcia
 * Benimaru Nikaido
 * K'
 * Maxima
 * Clark Still
 * Terry Bogard
 * Tung Fu Rue
 * Chin Gentsai
 * Choi Bounge

New Fighters

 * King of Dinosaurs

Stages

 * Neo Esaka
 * Super Arena
 * Aquarium
 * Guanajuato Dynamite Ring
 * Derelict Church