SNK Worlds Championship qualifying tournaments revealed

SNK Corporation has revealed the line-up of qualifying tournaments for its multi-title esports competition, the SNK World Championships 2026

The tournaments will feature various FGC titles, including FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves, The King of Fighters XV, ART OF FIGHTING 3: The Path of the Warrior, and SAMURAI SHODOWN.

The first event listed is Frosty Faustings XVIII, taking place in Illinois, USA, on January 29th. From there, future tournaments will take place sequentially all the way up to Thunderstruck 2026 in Mexico from October 10th, 2026.

Tournaments will take place all across the world, such as Genesis X3 in California, USA, Evo Japan 2026, and the Kick Tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Other events, such as Ragnarok 2026 in Argentina, have yet to have an announced scheduled date. SNK states that the list will be updated as new events and information are revealed to keep competitors ‘up-to-date.’ The full list can be accessed through the official SNK roadmap.

SNK also shared key details about the upcoming FGC season, including its $4.1m (~£3.04m) prize pool that will be spread across its qualifiers and finals similarly to the 2025 edition.

In the SNK World Championship 2026 season, players will compete not only for cash prizes but also for qualifying tournament points. All points gathered will be converted into prize money, with one point equalling $1, which will be distributed at a later date.

As a result, all offline tournaments are placed in different tiers. The most prestigious events are categorised under Legends, with 8,000 points awarded to the winner, while others range from Masters 1 to the lowest-ranked Masters 3.

The SNK World Championship 2026 is a year-long tournament circuit featuring SNK-developed titles. 2026 marks the beginning of the fourth season, where the best FGC players around the world compete across qualifiers for a place in the Grand Finals of their chosen game.