The first Dream Match of The King of Fighters series will be added to the SNK World Championship 2026 as an Open Tournament title. SNK Esports announced the move at the Evo Awards 2026 on twitter to bring The King of Fighters ’98 to the show with a $100,000 USD pot.
As revealed in @Evo Awards 2026, the SNK World Championship 2026 introduces a legendary masterpiece to the line-up: THE KING OF FIGHTERS ’98!
It will join AOF3 as an open tournament. More details to follow. So, stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/kbeQABq7Me
— SNK Esports Hub (@snk_esports_hub) March 29, 2026
The legacy title brings in its’ first 4 iterations of popular characters to duke it out in a non-canonical run. Characters from 94-97 were picked for the roster, making The King of Fighters 98 one of the best fighting games that SNK had ever produced. 98 boasted a 38-character roster, which is possibly the biggest at that time. It seems to be the vanilla version of the game.
The King of Fighters ’98 joins Samurai Showdown ’19, King of FIghters 15, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, and Art of Fighting 3 for the major.
Who's ready to run it back?
THE KING OF FIGHTERS ’98 will officially join the SNK World Championship 2026 line-up as an Open Tournament!
More information coming soon. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/1vHO6nJDsd
— SNK Esports Hub (@snk_esports_hub) March 29, 2026
