Former SEGA President Kenji Matsubara Joins SNK Corporation as its New CEO

Orpheus

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prof

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Well, he's coming from Sega, he was there the last few years. I guess Sega has done some cool stuff the last few years, but come on, they're a shell of themselves nowadays. I'd say his most impressive managerial run came during the aughts when he ran Koei and oversaw their Tecmo merger.

Perhaps with that Saudi oil money he can return SNK to their former glory. And avoid making news over embarrassing meme shit like "hard to make clicky buttons" or whatever. He was at the Sega helm the last few years when they greenlit sequels to beloved classics like Streets of Rage and Shenmue, so maybe some of that will be in the plans for SNK which would be cool.
 

SignOfGoob

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I disagree. For SNK to survive into the future as anything but an embarrassment they need to do something that *isn’t* a sequel.
 

Heinz

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I disagree. For SNK to survive into the future as anything but an embarrassment they need to do something that *isn’t* a sequel.
True but that would require creative genius to succeed, I don't think they have much of that anymore. Give us MOTW2 already!
 

SignOfGoob

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Do you mean MotW as a Mugen grade Neo ROM or as a brand new but seriously dated looking 3D thing choked with fan service? I have no interest in either. Or will it be an all female mobile game where you collect panties? Regardless, it’s all funded by MBS so you’re going to hell for buying any of it! :)

It would be so much easier to be an SNK fan in 2021 if they had just gone straight out of business forever…
 

Mr. Karate II

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This is the press release diffused on SNK's official website.
News Release

July 29th, 2021
SNK CORPORATION

Notice on the appointment of CEO

SNK CORPORATION (Headquarters: Suita City, Osaka Prefecture, Company Chairman and President: Ge Zhihui) is pleased to announce that Kenji Matsubara will be Chief Executive Officer on August 1, 2021.

We warmly welcome Mr. Matsubara who has a wealth of business expertise and experience in leading the game industry. He brought tangible success to prestigious companies with his extensive experience in game software development, marketing, and sales both in Japan and overseas. We will aim for further growth and an increase in corporate value under his leadership. With the appointment of Kenji, we promise that SNK is positioning itself for a new phase of growth and development.

AwHaJk2.jpg


Details

[Kenji Matsubara Profile]

Name: Kenji Matsubara
Date of Birth: February 16, 1962 (59 years old)
Job title: CEO
Inauguration date: August 1, 2021

[Biography]

Education:
March 1986, Completed the Master’s Program in Information Engineering, The University of Tokyo
June 1997, MBA, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Career History:
April 1986, Joined Hitachi, Ltd.
August 1997, Joined Oracle Corporation Japan
December 2001, Joined Koei Co., Ltd. (currently Koei Tecmo Games Co., Ltd.)
June 2007, Representative Director and President of Koei Co., Ltd.
April 2009, Representative Director and President of Koei Tecmo Holdings Co., Ltd.
May 2011, CEO and President of Zynga Japan Co., Ltd.
October 2014, CTO and Director of SEGA Networks Co., Ltd.
April 2017, COO and President of SEGA Games Co., Ltd.
April 2020, CPO of SEGA Games Co., Ltd.

INFORMATION
©SNK CORPORATION ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Original Source.

In the upper right of this photo is a depiction of Haōmaru that I had never seen before.

fKfmZRs.jpg
 
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prof

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I disagree. For SNK to survive into the future as anything but an embarrassment they need to do something that *isn’t* a sequel.
True enough, at least for the overall health of the company. But come on, if they came out with MOTW 2 or a rebooted Metal Slug or something similar for all the newest consoles, they'd sell big time. But while I agree that developing new games is important for a game company, embracing your legacy is just as important for a company such as SNK. Companies that saw their glory days in the 90s should embrace those properties because there are tons of gamers in their 30s to 50s who grew up with those games, and they now have expendable income. Nostalgia sells, just look at how well all of those mini consoles have sold. Have to embrace that market. And Matsubara saw that working for Sega the last few years. Certainly a better path than than following Konami's lead into pachinko and mobile games.
 

oliverclaude

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...they need to do something that *isn’t* a sequel.
There seems to be another problem, too... SNK is not big enough to offer massed-produced triple A polygons, definitely not beyond their IPs anyway, and not small enough to make 2D games again, which is probably the first what comes to mind of an average fan. Can't meet expectations of fans and stock holders at the same time.
 

xb74

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The recent Sam Sho game was a good step toward progression of a known SNK IP on current gen systems.

No reason why they can't begin looking to the FGC Esports realm with future iterations of that game or other IPs.

Also we soon have a console to look forward to from SNK as well (?).
 

doaal

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Hard to judge an individual based on the decisions of a company as large as Sega, but he at least has experience working with a game company with a long and established past. Maybe the Saudi Prince is a big Sega fan too?
 

Fygee

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I disagree. For SNK to survive into the future as anything but an embarrassment they need to do something that *isn’t* a sequel.
Tell that to Nintendo. Nearly every major release from them is a sequel.

When you have strong IPs, you milk those fuckers into the ground as long as they keep selling. That's just good business.

If anything, they just need to to revive some of the older IPs and put a modem spin on them.

A new IP would be nice, but you have to ask what could they make that has a chance of success, and would it be more ideal to just farm out development and publish it?
 

doaal

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SNK was also a very iterative company even back in the day. There were endless sequels to each of their fighters and Metal Slugs. Beast Busters came back years later as both a 3D rail shooter and an ARPG.

But they did bring out the occasional new IP. You had unique titles like Cool Cool Jam and Buriki One. I'm surprised management didn't push Last Blade into being a Samurai Shodown spinoff, but it became a successful independent series. Nintendo occupies a similar balance. The Switch has Arms, Labo, Astral Chain and various other small titles.

SNK has developed a reputation since the bankrupcy as being a KOF farm, but they've said in recent years they want to shed that label and branch out. The Hibiki DLC for SS and the Last Blade comic has me convinced that it's the next series to be getting a reboot. Fatal Fury is almost certainly in the cards. It's a question of how many titles they can handle internally and how many they are willing to outsource.
 

LoneSage

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I disagree. For SNK to survive into the future as anything but an embarrassment they need to do something that *isn’t* a sequel.
I have given this post much thought. Ten minutes worth of thought. Talking to myself and arguing with myself about the future of SNK.

All I can say is: Nope.
 
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