SNK Championship Series returns for 2026

SNK Corporation has announced the return of the SNK Championship Series (SCS) for 2026, introducing a range of format changes.

This year’s circuit, beginning on March 27th, will feature tournaments for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves and The King of Fighters XV.

Revealed on March 5th, this year’s SNK Championship Series has added prize pools to its weekly online tournaments, raising the stakes of each part of the competition. Throughout the year, players will compete for a ¥1m (~£4,764) prize pool split across online and offline tournaments.

Registrations for the upcoming season open on March 6th, with further information on tournaments for both titles arriving in the coming weeks. In addition to prize money for online matches, this season will see players compete in in-person regional qualifiers for a chance to qualify for the season-ending SNK World Championship.

For Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, the last-chance qualifiers for the Season Finals have expanded to all offline events, providing competitors with more opportunities to qualify. Additionally, the circuit will also act as a pathway for the Esports World Cup, where a $1m (~£751,060) prize pool is up for grabs.

Last year’s SCS featured 12 weeks of online tournaments and three Stage Finals before concluding with the Finals in October. Team Falcons player Zheng ‘Xiao Hai’ Zhuojun won the Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves tournament, while Sanwa‘s Masanobu ‘M’ Murakami took home the King of Fighters title.

Since its launch in April 2025, Fatal Fury’s esports scene has undergone rapid growth and expansion, cementing itself as one of the biggest titles in the FGC. Alongside the SCS and its inclusion at the Esports World Cup and Esports Nations Cup, the title features at several high-profile events across the world.

With a dedicated circuit returning once more for 2026, the title is set to continue attracting the world’s biggest organisations looking to win one of the FGC’s largest events.