It’s a special event for the entire fighting games community (FGC). FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves has the first big tournament. True competition starts here!
This esports circuit has a pretty unusual format. The SNK World Championship 2025 started back in 2024 — at the previous Evo Japan. Each tournament is a qualifier, so the winners earn direct invites to the Finals event. Also, new games join the Championship during the season.
It is understandable that SNK Corporation doesn’t want to focus only on The King of Fighters XV (KOF XV). The company also has a wonderful weapon-based game, Samurai Shodown, which deserves some spotlight. The release of FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves (FATAL FURY CotW) is still the main reason for making the SNK World Championship 2025 such a long run.
In a way, Evo Japan 2025 is a new page for the SNK esports circuit. KOF XV has only a few qualifiers left, so each matters a lot. Not only is this the first qualifier for FATAL FURY CotW, but it’s also the first really big tournament for the game.
Everything about the SNK World Championship 2025 at Evo Japan is here.
FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves at Evo Japan 2025
Despite being only a side-tournament, FATAL FURY CotW is one of the most interesting games featured at Evo Japan 2025. The first SNK World Championship 2025 qualifier is only part of the excitement.
Everyone wants to see what is possible in the game on the top-most level. What characters can make it to such an important battle? Who of the esports professionals can boost themselves as a master of FATAL FURY after this pretty short training period?
Stream
The official English stream of Evo Japan 2025 highlights the FATAL FURY CotW tournament. The top 6 brackets happened at the end of Day 1.
Results
The FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves matchups and results are shown in the table below. The winner advances to the SNK World Championship 2025 Finals. The top 2 players qualify for the FATAL FURY CotW Esports World Cup 2025: Xiaohai and Fenritti.
Winners semifinals | Winners final | Grand final |
|---|---|---|
| kubo 0:2 Xiaohai Hokutomaru vs Hotaru | Xiaohai 3:1 Fenritti Hotaru vs Kain | Xiaohai 3:1 Fenritti Hotaru vs Kain |
| SCORE 0:2 Fenritti Hokutomaru vs Kain |
Losers round 1 | Losers quarterfinals | Losers semifinal | Losers final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kindevu 0:2 ZJZ Gato vs Hotaru | SCORE 2:0 ZJZ Hokutomaru vs Hokutomaru | SCORE 1:2 Nemo Hokutomaru vs Billy Kane | Nemo 0:3 Fenritti Billy Kane vs Kain |
| Nemo 2:0 xian Billy Kane vs Gato | kubo 1:2 Nemo Hokutomaru vs Billy Kane |
It's not a big surprise to see Xiaohai jumping into the FATAL FURY competition and dominating the first big esports event. He is the greatest The King of Fighters player for a reason. The guy knows the SNK mechanics well and even movesets of many characters in FATAL FURY CotW.
In the final brackets of Evo Japan, Xiaohai played Hotaru and did not join the hype around Hokutomaru. With this fighter, he defeated kubo and Fenritti. Xiaohai is the first FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves Evo Japan Champion!
It is notable that players from other fighting games rushed into the new title. Fenritti and G01, some of the best DBFZ competitors, are here. Nemo comes from Street Fighter 6. Xiaohai himself is a KOF XV and SF6 player.
Here is the stream of earlier tournament stages: Evo Japan 2025 FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves pools to top 6.
Related articles
The King of Fighters XV at Evo Japan 2025
The KOF XV dimension of the SNK World Championship 2025 has reached a pretty interesting stage. Many top players have already qualified for the Finals, as the circuit had quite a few tournaments before Evo Japan 2025. This means a great chance for other competitors to earn this qualification spot.
For the viewers, the tournament should highlight a variety of creative team compositions and some unorthodox fighting styles.
Stream
The King of Fighters XV is part of the main lineup at Evo Japan 2025. The final matches are on the official English stream. You can watch the pools via the SNK Official YouTube channel.
The top 8 brackets start at 6 p.m. PT and 9 p.m. ET, May 9. It's 3 a.m. CEST and 10 a.m. JST, May 10.
Results
Only the KOF XV winner earns something for the SNK World Championship 2025 — and it’s a spot at the Finals. The stakes are extremely high!
Xiaohai qualified for the SNK World Championship 2025 Finals via KOF XV Evo 2025, so the legend skips this tournament. ET, who won KOF XV Evo Japan 2024, is still here.
Check out the Evo Japan KOF XV matchups and results here.
Winners semifinals | Winners final | Grand final |
|---|---|---|
| Lacid vs ET | TBD vs TBD | TBD vs TBD |
| mok vs Syounen |
Losers round 1 | Losers quarterfinals | Losers semifinal | Losers final |
|---|---|---|---|
| M' vs SCORE | TBD vs TBD | TBD vs TBD | TBD vs TBD |
| Morimotti vs madamuda2th | TBD vs TBD |
The next big stop for the SNK World Championship 2025 is Combo Breaker. It happens from May 23 to May 25 and features tournaments for The King of Fighters XV and FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves.
Samurai Shodown has a qualifier at Brussels Challenge Major Edition 2025, on May 18.
For all fighting games news and updates, stick around on esports.gg.
