SNK’s decision to include soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo as a playable character in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is bemusing franchise fans.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid footballer is part of the upcoming PS5 and PS4 game’s base roster – this isn’t a pre-order bonus, unlockable costume, or promotional clip.

But some players just can’t wrap their head around it.

“Did the April Fools’ Day joke video leak early?” one asked on Reddit.

“It’s probably just an April Fools’ Day joke,” another posted earnestly on ResetEra.

To which someone replied: “I don’t know, it's an awful lot of effort for a joke. From what I can tell from the gameplay trailer, he seems to have a complete move set – even if it does look awkward and possibly added at the last minute.”

Just to be crystal clear about this: Cristiano Ronaldo is a playable character in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. This is not a joke – it’s real.

If you visit the game’s official website, you can learn a little more about the “character”. You can even see his command list, which includes slide tackle attacks and the “siu” celebration.

His fighting style is pitched as a combination of football and martial arts, and he’s described as an “unstoppable force”.

“One of the top football players in the world,” his blurb explains. “He uses his time off to visit South Town to hone his new football skills. The various techniques he has developed playing football make him an unstoppable force, even to seasoned fighters.”

Obviously, SNK is predominantly owned by the Misk Foundation, a Saudi Arabian firm founded by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

Ronaldo is, of course, currently playing for Saudi Arabian team Al-Nassr, where he’s one of the highest paid athletes in the world. His activities extend beyond just football, however, as he’s also become a bit of an ambassador for the country.

One interesting wrinkle here, though, is that the dev’s depicted Ronaldo in his Portugal kit by default and not his Al-Nassr uniform. We wonder if that’ll be an alternative outfit for him to use in the game.

Ultimately, this is going to bring a lot of exposure to Fatal Fury, which doesn’t have the same brand recognition as Street Fighter or Tekken.

You’re probably going to see the likes of IShowSpeed – an enormous Ronaldo fan – streaming the game on social media, which will raise its overall profile and hopefully sell more copies.

From that perspective, we’re not against CR7’s inclusion. Actually, to be honest, we think it’s kinda hilarious.

[source snk-corp.co.jp, via reddit.com, resetera.com]