In the world of professional sports, there’s not too many out there bigger than pro soccer star Critiano Ronaldo, and it looks like he may be taking a step into a different type of competition.
Ronaldo himself appears to be teasing some sort of inclusion in the upcoming Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.
The Al Nassr footballer posted some sort of teaser trailer to his social media pages today that has fans around the world interested but also a bit confused.
Things start out with a soccer stadium with Ronaldo’s number 7 on the big screen and some very interesting text that pops up next.
“A legendary player joins a legendary game.”
At the end it builds up to a door with the Fatal Fury logo at the end of a hall that is about to be busted open.
The vague video leaves a lot up to interpretation and speculation, but it certainly has fans it certainly has fans around the world buzzing on both sides of the field / pitch.
Obviously, the big question is whether Ronaldo himself could actually be a playable character in City of the Wolves, and that wording certainly makes it sound like that could be possible.
We have seen the likes of Snoop Dogg in the background of a Tekken Tag Tournament 2 stage and other celebrities like wrestler Kenny Omega appear as Cody in an official Street Fighter trailer though this has the chance to be something very big and different.
Outside of something like Def Jam, we don’t typically see stars themselves in fighting games besides LeBron James being included in MultiVersus.
Considering we see the pitch pretty prominently at the start, perhaps this could be teasing some sort of crossover stage with the Al Nassr Football Club with the likenesses of some of their players.
The most tame explanation about what’s going on likely wouldn’t have Ronaldo in the game itself, however.
SNK recently revealed their Tokyo Game Show 2024 plans, which of course includes a heavy focus on the new Fatal Fury.
The studio is planning to hold a special event match “featuring eight very special guests.”
They haven’t announced who those guests are yet as far as we can tell aside from some general teases listed “from female pro gamers to comedians, voice actors, cosplayers, and more.”
Obviously, no mention of soccer legends up there, but Ronaldo would be a pretty big surprise get for SNK to get people’s attention.
Something exciting in the making! #SNK #FatalFury #CR7 pic.twitter.com/u9gDbx9M1y
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) September 21, 2024
That doesn’t really sound like it’d be enough to qualify teasing “A legendary player joins a legendary game,” however.
So there is still at least a good chance they’re referencing something more.
Considering SNK is now owned by the Mohammed bin Salman Foundation and Al Nassr is owned by the Public Investment Fund and plays in the Saudi Pro League, it also wouldn’t be surprising if Saudi Arabia helped broker a deal between the player and developers though nothing has clearly indicated that yet.
Ronaldo has been trying to expand his online presence as of late since he opened an official YouTube channel back in July that almost instantly earned a golden play button and now sits with over 62 million subscribers after just a few months.
He could be looking to push into other entertainment avenues like video games as well, but we’re not sure of any history the Portuguese footballer has with fighting games themselves currently.
SNK will also be hosting a new playable demo for Fatal Fury at TGS where Mai Shiranui will be playable for the first time.
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is scheduled to release on April 24, 2025 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Everyone expected Fatal Fury to receive a Street Fighter crossover, but perhaps they’ll be receiving Ronaldo instead.
Image via Fut Elite.