King of Fighters XIII is best known these days as a beautiful rebound after the calamity that was King of Fighters XII. Unfortunately, what is otherwise a stellar fighting game is marred by the console versions’ terrible netcode. That may be a non-factor soon enough as the SNK Playmore fighter begins paving the way to Steam.
The Steam description states that King of Fighters XIII Steam Edition includes “vastly improved netcode”, which is elegantly bolded and underlined on the page. This is the real deal breaker, and SNK Playmore better hope they have it right this time.
In addition to the above, the Steam release will include three different online versus modes and the following three characters who were sold as DLC in the console versions:
- Iori with the Power of Flames
- NESTS Style Kyo
- Mr. Karate
With these three characters right out of the box (so to speak), King of Fighters Steam Edition will have a full 36 character roster available to all players.
Tight Closed Beta
Unlike many other Steam titles that allow players to receive beta access for a pre-purchase, SNK Playmore are handling getting into the beta a little differently.
Only 300 people are being allowed access to the game during its beta phase, which will run from August 20th to the 29th.
Applications are now open and will continue to be open up until August 18th, after which the winners will be chosen by lottery and notified on the 19th. You can sign up for the beta on this page, which poses the standard closed beta questionnaire.
With Skullgirls also making its way to Steam, it’s exciting to see another well-known fighter make its way onto the platform. King of Fighters XIII Steam Edition could be a big deal and potentially bring the game back into the heart of the fighting game scene, but if SNK Playmore can’t get that netcode right the game has no chance. We’ll find out whether they pulled it off on September 13th.
