A new job description has been spotted on the SNK website stating that SNK's Osaka studio is currently on the lookout for 2D dot animators (pixel artists), raising suggestions that it could be related to the recently teased Metal Slug projects, which are currently assumed to be in development (h/t: @gatoray_kof).
Just in case you missed it or potentially need a recap, over the weekend, SNK released a new video celebrating 30 years of the Metal Slug series, which sparked some excitement among the Metal Slug community.
That's in addition to some inevitable reminders of the company's ongoing connection with a country criticized for its human rights violations, through SNK's current owners, the non-profit Mohammed bin Salman Foundation (MiSK), founded by Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
The anniversary video opened with a sizzle reel of footage from a bunch of existing Metal Slug games, and thanked fans for their support over the years, before teasing a couple of future entries in the series with an arcade cabinet with the words "Mission Reboot" displayed on the screen and a set of dunes with the tagline "A New Adventure Awaits" floating above them.
At roughly the same time as this went live, a 30th-anniversary website was also launched, too, confirming a "wide range of exciting projects—including new ventures in gaming." However, the company stopped short of specifying what these new ventures actually were or what form they would take (including whether they would use a classic pixel-art aesthetic or aim for a modern 2.5D look inspired by the mobile game Metal Slug Awakening).
This new job description, though — if it does indeed apply to the new Metal Slug projects — could suggest it is the former, hinting at a return to the "detailed pixel art" that set the series apart in the first place.
In other Metal Slug news, SNK recently announced a partnership with the Embracer-owned Plaion Replai to start selling the Neo Geo+ AES. This is a recreation of SNK's classic home console, which will launch alongside a reissue of several SNK titles, including the original Metal Slug. This is another SNK project that has again drawn equal parts praise and criticism, with the Video Game History Foundation's Frank Cifaldi being among those to criticise the venture over SNK and Embracer's link to Saudi Arabia.