Playable Cristiano Ronaldo Joins Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

Soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo has been announced as a playable character for the upcoming fighting game Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves in what might be the strangest crossover between sports and video games since Lionel Messi showed up in Call of Duty. To emphasize this point: The Portuguese athlete won’t merely be available as a cosmetic skin for an existing fighter — he’s a complete character with his own set of moves.

Although Ronaldo himself appeared in the reveal trailer for his character and obviously provided his likeness to developer SNK, the soccer star won’t voice himself in the game. This job went to Juan Felipe Sierra, who’ll play CR7 in the English dub of the game. In Japanese, the voice actor Masaaki Mizunaka takes up the No. 7 jersey.

“One of the top soccer players in the world,” the game’s official description for Ronaldo reads. “He uses his time off to visit South Town to hone his new soccer skills. The various techniques he has developed playing soccer make him an unstoppable force, even to seasoned fighters.”

SNK already released CR7’s move list, which provides an overview of his skills in battle, and the abilities are indeed heavily inspired by what he usually does on the pitch. Ronaldo is seemingly able to conjure up energetic soccer balls from thin air and use them to attack his opponents. As you’d expect, kicks will be a staple in his kit. Other soccer-inspired moves include a slide tackle and a shoulder tackle, while his Hidden Gear ability pays tribute to the famous cowboy stance he’s always liked to use ahead of making freekicks.

This collaboration is certainly a coup for the Japanese developer, tapping a massive fan base that might otherwise never have heard about its upcoming fighting game — and with LeBron James no longer being an option due to WB Games’ brawler MultiVersus shutting down, any sports fans needing a new athlete to main can seamlessly switch over to SNK’s title.

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will be released on April 24, 2025, for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Anyone interested in trying the game can join the current open beta test, which will run until March 31.