The King of Fighters '98 Gets Rollback Netcode This Winter

Rollback netcode and online lobbies will be coming in a free update to The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Final Edition in Winter 2021 -- and a Community Beta Test will let you try it out early.


Published: November 26, 2021 12:00 PM /

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The King of Fighters 98 Rollback Netcode cover

Rollback netcode and online lobbies will be coming in a free update to The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Final Edition in Winter 2021 -- and a Community Beta Test will let you try it out early.

The King of Fighters franchise has been happily chugging along for decades. The newer games are pretty solid and new editions are still coming, too; The King of Fighters 15 was announced earlier this year (and sadly delayed a few months later). Now, SNK has announced that one of the older games is getting a seriously cool update this winter.

Online Lobbies and Rollback Netcode Are Coming to The King of Fighters '98

The big addition in The King of Fighters 98 update this winter is rollback netcode according to a press release. Rollback netcode is generally preferred by the fighting game community due to it having a perceived higher level of reliability; most recently, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R finally added rollback netcode to the game after extensive testing.

That's not the only new addition, though -- online lobbies are also coming to the game. Multiple players will be able to get together and get into epic battles. And if you're the type who likes to hang back and watch, you're covered, too: a spectator mode is also arriving.

We'll have to wait until later this winter to get these features, but you'll be able to try them out a bit early -- a beta test will be running from November 29, 2021, at 8:00 PM Eastern Time until December 3, 2021, at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. You can join in the beta test and all of the fighting game fun by buying The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Final Edition on Steam for $4.94 or your regional equivalent as part of the Steam Autumn Sale.

What do you think of rollback netcode coming to The King of Fighters '98? Do you think that rollback netcode should be the standard for fighting games? Let us know in the comments below!

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One of my earliest memories is playing Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I've had a controller in my hand since I was 4 and I… More about Robert N