As fighting games have broaden its appeal worldwide, the developers, in particular the Japanese developers, have started to put in more characters from otherwise underrepresented regions- the Middle East in particular- back in mainstream games. Which explains the new inclusion of Shaheen in Tekken 7 and Rashid for Street Fighter V. Now, the King Of Fighters XIV will join that list as they too will add new Middle Eastern character as DLC, Najd.
The creation of Najd is interesting, as it is born out of a competition organised by Manga Productions in Saudi Arabia, with the winning design to be featured in an SNK game.
Lo and behold, the design, created by Mashael Al-Barrak from Saudi Arabia, will be featured in KOF XIV. Also to be included is a new stage, Mamsak Fort Arena, that also won the same contest for best stage. It was design by Zainab Al-Lawaty from Oman.
The new character and stage is now realised in the game. Take a look below:
Najd is the third character of four in this second wave of DLC. The initial roster in the based game was a whopping 50 characters, and Najd being the 57th to join the list. The DLC will be available sometime in April.