Back in 1999, 2D fighting game Street Fighter 3 had its first real competitor from gamemaker SNK – Garou: Mark of the Wolves. It was lovingly animated, it featured Fatal Fury characters (and their offsprings/successors) years later, and continued the plot of the game after the death of main bad guy Geese Howard. There were plans for a sequel, but 70% of the game was canned due to SNK issues back in the day when the company filed for bankruptcy back in 2000.

After two decades, we may see a sequel surface in the near future. Why am I sure of this? Because the current SNK fighting game producer and director Yasuyuki Oda said that the main reason he rejoined the company was to complete the Fatal Fury story between Terry Bogard and Rock Howard. Oda has posted a handful of comments telling fans about wanting to get to the sequel, thus joining the company and doing a bunch of KOF and SNK games in the process. He even hinted at Terry’s possible future where Rock betrays his foster dad in one of the endings of SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy.

I think it's hard for you to imagine, I went back to SNK to complete GAROU.

— Yasuyuki Oda ”KOFXV in store now!” (@snk_oda) July 11, 2022

Oda also mentioned that he wishes to go back to the sequel, but he needs the community to help as the Garou/Fatal Fury franchise is old and would only cater to a niche group. Even more niche than fighting games; that’s pretty tiny.

What I want to tell people all over the world is to see the final showdown between Terry and Rock! That's all.

— Yasuyuki Oda ”KOFXV in store now!” (@snk_oda) July 11, 2022

Also, the assets for Mark of the Wolves 2 were recently discovered, so the talk about the could-have-been sequel has been brought up in the fighting game community.

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— 2021kduck (@2021Kduck) July 6, 2022

Yasuyuki Oda joined SNK backing 1993, before leaving in 2000 due to the company’s bankruptcy. His last project was Garou: Mark of the Wolves, so of course he would come back to SNK to finish what he started.

Will There Be A Sequel To Garou: Mark Of The Wolves?

Yes, if the fanbase is vocal enough and there’s a demand for it. However, don’t expect the game’s budget to be as big as KOF XV’s. There is a chance SNK could hire some crackteam workers to finish 30% or so of the already-halfway sequel. Then again, this could take a couple of years. Still, stranger things have happened in this industry. Perhaps a Kickstarter or IndieGoGo fund could be the ticket SNK needs? Yes, I am aware of SNK’s recent injection of “blood money”, but the crowdfunding is mostly to gauge interest.