SNK revealed Art of Fighting 3 R during the Evo fighting game tournament this past weekend, giving fans a fresh take on the company's 1996 fighting game Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior. The revamped version will expand the roster by adding series characters King and Yuri Sakazaki, who weren't part of the original game's lineup.

When Art of Fighting 3 first released in 1996, it took a notably different approach from its predecessors by removing most returning characters—only series protagonists Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia made the cut. This R version seems designed to address that by reintroducing fan-favorite fighters to the experience. The game will launch on PC via Steam, though SNK hasn't announced a specific release date yet.

This announcement comes as part of a broader push from SNK to revitalize its classic franchises. The company confirmed in 2024 that it was developing a new Art of Fighting game, and recent reports indicate that The Arena production studio (formerly Arena SNK) is working on the "South Town Saga"—a multimedia project adapting SNK's Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting universes across live-action films, webtoons, and animated series.

Both fighting game franchises share the fictional setting of South Town, though they're positioned roughly a decade apart chronologically. Interestingly, SNK's King of Fighters series, which launched in 1994, actually began as a crossover between Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting before evolving into its own franchise with original characters.

The Art of Fighting webtoon adaptation is expected to be the first South Town Saga project to release, serving as a foundation for the broader multimedia initiative. With Art of Fighting 3 R coming to Steam and these larger adaptation plans underway, SNK is clearly committed to keeping these classic properties relevant for both longtime fans and newcomers discovering them for the first time.