The PC iteration of the new reboot of the Samurai Shodown series was curiously absent from the lineup when it was announced in June 2019. SNK revealed that the PC version of the 2D gunfighter will be exclusive to the Epic Games Store, following the release of the NeoGeo Collection on the same service, prior to its original release.
Fans who have been waiting for the arrival of Samurai Shodown on Steam since SNK’s exclusivity agreement with Epic Games ended should now expect the title shortly. Along with the announcement of Samurai Shodown’s Steam version, a familiar face was unveiled as the game’s next DLC character, who will be released on the same day.
SNK revealed over the weekend that Samurai Shodown would be released on Steam on June 14, about a year since it was first made available on the Epic Games Store. The unveiling of Shiro Tokisada Amakusa, the official third DLC character from Season 3 of Samurai Shodown, following Cham Cham and Hibiki Takane from The Last Blade game, was the second big announcement. Just two DLC characters remain to be revealed after the reveal, with the last one reported to be a guest character from the Guilty Gear franchise.
Amakusa will be remembered by veteran Samurai Shodown fans as the final boss of the first Samurai Shodown in 1993. He has been a playable character in nearly every game in the main series since Samurai Shodown 3 and one of the game’s key characters. With the addition of Amakusa to the 2019 game, he becomes the second-to-last warrior from the original Samurai Shodown. After Samurai Shodown 6, the only remaining character is Genan, who has yet to feature in a modern Samurai Shodown game.
【SAMURAI SPIRITS】
シーズンパス3 DLCキャラクター第3弾「天草四郎時貞」（CV.白川周作）を6月15日に配信！#SNK #サムスピ #天草四郎 #白川周作 さん pic.twitter.com/utVZt3dMU5— SNK JAPAN (@SNKPofficial_jp) May 17, 2021
The lack of a gameplay trailer is the most unusual aspect of Amakusa’s sudden announcement, particularly for such a significant and well-known character in the series. Characters like Hibiki Takane were previously heavily marketed in the run-up to their debut. With Amakusa’s release less than a month out, some fans believe the announcement was made in connection with the Steam release rather than on its own, and that a gameplay trailer will be released shortly.
Another point of contention among fans is the lack of a netcode rollback announcement, including the PC and console models’ reputations among players for shady online play. With SNK’s latest announcement that King of Fighters 15 will be net coded, many players are requesting that many other SNK titles be changed as well.
