SNKP wouldn’t say anything at all before Capcom announced SFIVAE – which they have now done, so now it is safe for SNKP to announce XIII. I am not allowed to make any official statements on behalf of SNKP but I will say the game will be released before the end of 2011. Anytime from Summer onwards. It will contain extra features that are not present in the arcade and there will not be any balance changes. As for new characters, I cannot say, but there will be exclusive content such as characters, stages, music, things like that. The version is now officialised.
And there is very good news regarding the netplay. For those who already played it in arcade, they know there is a ‘reduce lag’ option*. This will be present in the console version. The feedback from testers is that the lag input option is better than SFIV’s. SNKP understands that the game’s success may well depend on the netcode. So yes, KOF XIII is arrriving and official news will be coming very very soon, now that the threat of SFIV interfering has passed. At this time of year, nothing can get in the way, so keep checking the usual sites and you will get info.
One last thing, I play KOF 13 in Paris Arcades and it seems the game is the most played there. Why? Because it is magic. It’s hard to define with words but SFIV players are jealous when they see us playing this game.