Out of all the modern mobile games based on popular fighting game properties, The King of Fighters Allstar was perhaps the most well-regarded by fans, but now it’s gone.
Instead, Netmarble is now trying to get fans excited for their next KOF venture with a new game, but they don’t really seem to be biting at the pre-registration that recently opened.
The company recently put out a new trailer showing off much more of what King of Fighters AFK is actually going to look like in action, and it seems… pretty mundane.
KOF AFK is going to be a team-building mobile RPG featuring characters from across the franchise and from different entries like Kyo from King of Fighters ’98 vs. Kyo from King of Fighters 2002.
And of course gacha mechanics to pull and level up the fighters you want.
The change to small sprites based on the NeoGeo Pocket Color SNK games does help give AFK a little bit of charm, but just about everything else about actually playing it looks pretty generic in an already overcrowded space.
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From the screenshots released on the store, it looks like the martial artists are going to be taking on the likes of armored gorillas and dragons too because why not.
While there is no release date, Netmarble has opened up pre-registration on Android and iOS where players can pick up 3,000 free draws, Vice, Iori and Leona though we’re curious how many people are actually doing so.
Fun Fast Flashback RPG! – KOF AFK!
Pre-registration is now open!
Sign up now to grab awesome rewards and get the latest updates instantly!Join the pre-registration!
https://t.co/FX9sy19rbN#TheKingOfFightersAFK #KOFAFK #KingOfFighters pic.twitter.com/nrV9pS5Xsx— KOFAFK_Global (@kof_afk) October 30, 2024
As was previously reported, KOF Allstar officially shut down on October 30, and the game can no longer be accessed at all.
It even appears the official website is gone too.
KOF Allstar originally released in 2018 and then 2019 in the West as a free-to-play beat ’em up that also featured different versions of characters across the main series.
The game also got a lot of attention for its many crossover events Street Fighter 6 less than a year ago, Guilty Gear, Soul Calibur, Dead or Alive, Samurai Shodown, Tekken, Gintama and even the WWE.
Allstar certainly still had its own issues with gacha drops and power creep, but quite a few players grew quite attached to it for years — and don’t seem enthusiastic about moving on to AFK.
The official KOF AFK YouTube page is currently up to just 710 subscribers, and they turned comments off for the pre-registration video after the first was slammed with mostly negative responses about Allstar.
Similarly, the Netmarble’s X / Twitter page for KOF AFK only has 73 followers, and the video only has around 550 views after five days as of the time of reporting where half of the comments are also about Allstar there too.
お前たちはゴミで臆病者だ。
You are trash and cowards. pic.twitter.com/WX9J6vXI5n— Vitor Muniz (@Vitor_Muniz) October 31, 2024
It’s obviously not the most fair comparison since KOF Allstar had five years to build up, but their YouTube page reached a sizable 65.5k subscribers by the end with many videos averaging around 30,000 views or more.
Things could of course change as AFK gets closer to launching, however, right now, it appears the KOF audience is looking elsewhere and not really engaging with the RPG.
This also wasn’t the only mobile title connected to fighting games to shut down last month either, as Mortal Kombat: Onslaught was shuttered after NetherRealm Studios laid off its mobile team just a year out from its initial release.
Unlike Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Mega Man X Dive, KOF Allstar doesn’t look like it’s going to be receiving an official offline version, so all those years of progress (and money spent) may just be gone forever.
But that’s ultimately going to be the fate of a majority of these free-to-play mobile games at some point.
If you are interested in KOF AFK, more information can be found on the official site.