The King of Fighters XIV

The King of Fighters XIV
Developer(s)KOF Studio
Taito (Arcade)
Publisher(s)
  • JP: Taito (Arcade)
Director(s)Yasuyuki Oda
Artist(s)Eisuke Ogura
SeriesThe King of Fighters
Platform(s)
ReleasePlayStation 4
  • NA: August 23, 2016
  • JP: August 25, 2016
  • PAL: August 26, 2016
Windows
  • WW: June 15, 2017
Arcade
  • JP: June 29, 2017
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemTaito Type X3 (NESiCAxLive2)

The King of Fighters XIV is a 2016 fighting game developed by KOF Studio and published by SNK. It is the fourteenth main installment in the The King of Fighters series. It is the first game in the series to be rendered entirely in 3D, although gameplay is restricted to a 2D plane. The game was released worldwide for the PlayStation 4 in August 2016 and ported to Windows and Japanese arcade cabinets in June 2017.

The development of The King of Fighters XIV began in April 2014, after SNK's CEO Eikichi Kawasaki who reoriented the company toward traditional video games after several years of focus on Pachinko-style slot machines and mobile apps. Yasuyuki Oda, who previously worked on Capcom's Street Fighter IV and other titles by SNK, directed the game. It retains the series' system of teams composed of three fighters while introducing "Rush Combo", an automatic combo system designed to make the series more accessible for new players. The game received post-release downloadable content support through new characters, alternative outfits and patches to improve the game's visuals. Kyōtarō Azuma wrote a spin-off manga series, The King of Fighters: A New Beginning, published from 2018 to 2020.

The King of Fighters XIV received generally favorable reviews. Critics praised the game's fighting system as enjoyable for both new players and fighting game experts, but criticized its graphics as inferior to other fighting games released for the eighth generation of video game consoles. A sequel, The King of Fighters XV, was released in 2022.