I interviewed SNK’s Yasuyuki Oda and animator Masami Obari just before Evo 2025 to discuss designing the popular Street Fighter character and the game’s new animated opening.
Ken Masters, the Street Fighter mainstay, is the newest DLC character to join Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. That’s unsurprising news, as developer SNK made the reveal last year, and I got hands-on with the character prior to flying out to Evo 2025, the world’s largest fighting game tournament and convention. However, SNK reached out for an interview that was originally supposed to occur during the show, but shifted to email due to a scheduling conflict. So, below, you’ll find my Q+A with Yasuyuki Oda (Lead Producer, City of the Wolves) and Masami Obari (Animator, City of the Wolves’ Ken anime opener).
PCMag: Ken Masters is City of the Wolves’ newest DLC character. Oda-san, please walk me through how SNK decided that he (and Chun-Li, who is coming Winter 2025) would be the Street Fighter representatives to appear in Fatal Fury?
Oda-san: We wanted a character that was as iconic to the Street Fighter franchise as Terry and Mai are to Fatal Fury. Ken, who also has a history and rivalry with Terry, ended up being the best choice. In the same vein, Chun-Li has a rivalry with Mai and is such an iconic character for the Street Fighter series that we felt we had to get her in the game.
PCMag: How much freedom do you have to interpret Ken in terms of visual design and move set?
Oda-san: We are extremely grateful to Capcom who has given us plenty of creative freedom to adapt Ken. We wanted to use his Street Fighter 6 version as a base and then add his most iconic moves from previous Street Fighter games. I think we were able to maintain Ken’s identity while also creating a unique version of him that fans can enjoy.
PCMag: Will CotW receive any guest characters from other fighting game publishers besides Capcom?
Oda-san: We’re still looking into it, but unfortunately, we don’t have anything to announce right now.
