SNK Playmore Appoints Hosoya As President

Osaka-based developer SNK Playmore's (The King of Fighters series, Metal Slug series) board of directors announced the appointment of Soichiro Hosoya as its new president Previously, Hosoya served as SNK's director of game titles. He will take over for outgoing president Koichi Toyama, who is stepping down for unspecified reasons. The company, which is best known of late for publishing anthologies of its various classic fighting titles and Metal Slug series in the West, has a new arcade title, The King of Fighters XII, debuting in 2009, and has a significant pachinko arcade presence in Japan. "I would like to emphasize that I will focus on continuing business development in order to surpass all expectations," says Hosoya in a statement released by SNK Playmore. He continues, "As you know, SNK has strong intellectual properties that will continue to be used in the pachinko-slot machine business and video game business. In addition, SNK will ramp up all current projects for the new growing stage, and I promise to do my best with vigorous dedication."