The upcoming Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is already shaping up to be one of the most anticipated fighting games of 2025, but a recent announcement has gone beyond the excitement of the game's initial surprise reveal. Following an official post by the famous athlete Cristiano Ronaldo, it seems that he will be involved with the upcoming Garou sequel in some unknown capacity. If this collaboration with Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves yields a playable character, the inclusion of Ronaldo would be unprecedented even for the fighting game genre.
There's already been a wave of hype surrounding the shocking addition of SNK's Mai Shiranui and Terry Bogard in Street Fighter 6 as DLC, a call-back to the era of frequent crossovers between the company's IPs and Capcom. Compared to the potential for a real-life person to be making it into the world of Fatal Fury, however, even those sorts of collaborations pale in comparison in terms of predictability.
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A Character Slot in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves Might Be Filled By Cristiano Ronaldo
SNK is No Stranger to Collaborations
Throughout its history of existing as different businesses, SNK has embraced many partnerships and crossover events by bringing characters from other games into its titles. SNK's flagship King of Fighters series itself is an amalgam of characters from series like Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, and Fatal Fury, making the company somewhat of a hub for older fighting game IPs to come together. Despite this history, however, most of these clashes have been between characters under the same developer umbrella or within the same arcade context, making bleeding into reality untouched territory.
Ronaldo's Tease Has Fueled Speculation That He May Be Playable
The situation originates from a post made on Cristiano Ronaldo's official X/Twitter account which showcased a video that left the details of the collaboration unspecified. The brief clip seems to show a character breaking out from behind a metal door within a soccer stadium, potentially implying that Ronaldo could be figuratively bursting into Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves' familiar roster.
Cristiano Ronaldo in Fatal Fury Stands Out as a Weird Crossover Even in the Context of Fighting Games
Real-Life People as Guests Push New Boundaries
Outlandish guests are a familiar idea in fighting games, with the likes of the Terminator or the Joker in Mortal Kombat or Negan in Tekken having become accepted parts of the entries they appeared in. The existence of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe has stood out as one of the most disparate pairings of franchises in particular, with Warner Bros.' Ownership essentially being the only connection between the two.
Regardless of how ill-fitting any of those instances may have been, none of them went so far as to include an actual living person in a video game release as opposed to the fictional characters they have portrayed. While it could be argued that Cristiano Ronaldo has made several appearances across the likes of FIFA and EA Sports FC as a high-rated player, those are far from the visually striking combat of SNK's fighters.
The Only Connection Between Sports and SNK is Business-Related
In a similar vein to what has allowed DC to have a rapport with Mortal Kombat, it would appear that the primary link between Ronaldo and Fatal Fury is related to business interests. Considering that he currently plays for the club Al-Nassr FC, which has an owner with similar ties to the Saudi Arabian foundation that owns a majority share of SNK, this collaboration might be a calculated move which could draw a lot of attention to the series comeback of Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.
- Released
- April 24, 2025
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Language, Violence, Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- SNK
- Publisher(s)
- SNK
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
WHERE TO PLAY
After 26 years, FATAL FURY is back! SNK’s beloved Fatal Fury series first hit the market in 1991, spearheading the fighting game boom of the 1990s that swept the industry thereafter.
GAROU: MARK OF THE WOLVES (released in 1999) has, for some time, served as the franchise’s most recent installment. But that is all about to change: 26 years on, a brand-new entry—FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves—is set to arrive on the scene!
FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves features a unique art style that stimulates the senses, an innovative REV system that supercharges the excitement, plus a host of other battle systems even more robust than before. The game also breathes new life into the series by introducing two distinct control schemes (ensuring fun and excitement for newcomers and veterans alike) as well as other fresh features and elements.
The streets of South Town are a hotbed of action, wild dreams, and even wilder ambition. Here, at long last, a new legend is about to unfold...
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Fatal Fury
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Fighting
