SNK Playmore to focus on Pachinko business

SNK Playmore, best known for its Neo Geo platform and its numerous fighting games, will be shifting the focus of its business towards the gambling machine sector. According to SoftBank Games, the company today announced its plans to go into the Pinball-and-Slot machine industry, better known in Japan as Pachinko. Starting with a machine themed on their Metal Slug series, SNK Playmore will release five Pachinko slot machines this year. The company then plans to release a further 12 machines in 2005, and 15 machines in 2006. As well as adopting their own games as themes for the Pachinko slots, SNK Playmore hopes to release machines that are based on game brands from other companies.

As the largest money making sector in the legal gambling business, competition in the Pachinko industry is fierce. SNK Playmore will be concentrating its business resources on taking a slice of the market which it believes to be growing and profitable. With an estimated audience of 19 million, the Pachinko industry generates an annual revenue of nearly 30 trillion Yen (US$279 billion), which equates to almost eight percent of Japan's GDP in 2002.

While SNK Playmore will be shifting their main focus towards Pachinko slot machines, the company will also keep releasing video games. SNK Playmore will continue to publish their popular game franchises such as the King of Fighters and Samurai Showdown, with plans to extend their releases to multiple platforms, including cell phones.