During Sony’s State of Play October 2021 live stream, SNK released new gameplay from its upcoming fighter The King of Fighters 15 and revealed a new playable character. While the trailer was mainly focused on a character announcement for Dolores, SNK also had a special announcement for King of Fighters fans patiently waiting for more.
During the trailer, SNK reveals not just the new character Dolores, but also that The King of Fighters XV would be having an open beta that anyone can join. In addition, the trailer showed the characters Kyo Kusanagi, Yashiro Nanakase, Iori Yagami, Shun’ei, Chizuru Kagura, Chris, and fan-favorite Shermie would be a part of the open beta characters that fans can use. Although for the full game, the characters will once again be split into distinct fighting teams. Players will find a total of 39 fighters available at launch, with six additional fighters to be released later as downloadable content.
King of Fighters 15 was originally delayed due to the pandemic. However, fans playing on their PS4 and PS5 consoles will be able to take place in the Open Beta to test out the smooth online fighting experience. Naturally, there will be cross-play between both consoles. The open beta will begin Friday, Nov. 19 at 10 p.m. EDT and run until Monday, Nov. 22 at 6:59 a.m. EDT. Fans may choose from one of eight characters in online casual or online room matches, or offline training. At the end of the trailer, SNK announced that King of Fighters 15 will launch February 17, 2022.
Dolores' powerset appears that she has control over earth and mud. She can morph out from the ground and her specials can send out waves along the ground, which can encase the opponent in stone. One of Dolores' Supers is revealed and it launches the enemy with spikes from the ground before dropping more stone spikes from up above. The trailer concludes with what looks to be her Climax Super that encases the opponent in mud before showering down spikes upon them.
Over the summer, it was announced that King of Fighters 15 was coming to Current and Next-Gen platforms . However, the beta will only be for PlayStation players. There may be another Beta round for PC and Xbox users but there was no indication of that during Sony's State of Play.
SNK is active online by sharing character trailers and building up the King of Fighters 15 roster. So far the team has revealed more than ten characters, including classic fan-favorite Mai Shiranui, and Ikari Warriors Ralf and Clark. Even Terry Bogard will also be making an appearance, a fighter who can also be found in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Fighting EX Layer.
The King of Fighters 15 is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S on February 17, 2022.