http://orochinagi.com/2011/04/xiii-release-date-ken-bogard-x-frionel-translation-in-english said:
KOF 13 was released last summer in Japan, where version 1.0 was at Tougeki, and then 1.1 was released to fix bugs. There werent any balance changes, just bug and infinite combo removal. There was a rumour that Raiden would be weaker in 1.1 but this was not the case. Now everyone is playing 1.1, even in the US. The question is, will it be released on console? For all the other KOFs it was announced quickly but for XIII, we heard nothing. The reason why we didnt get an announcement is because today SNKP have a strategy of all or nothing. When they were working on XII, which wasnt finished, they released it because there were commercial issues at stake with another game company resurrecting a huge fighting game saga (which I forget the name of ).
KOF 12 was an extremely ambitious project by SNKP, where they decided to use 2D and offer a rich and interest fighting experience, while staying in traditional 2D with a quality of pixel art never seen before. And its a very risky proeject because of the cost of developing an animated frame by frame, pixel by pixel game. It is far more expensive than developing a 3D game, where you create models and just add textures. The challenge was simple: keep KOF in 2D but attract a new audience and a new youth which would lead to the re-birth of KOF.
Today SNKPlaymore has a simple strategy. Their goal is not to replace SFIV or other big titles like that. They have their own niche market, and within that niche, their own niche of fans. They want to focus on these fighting games players; focus on the hardcore. In Japan, when you tell people you play KOF, you might as well tell them youre mentally disturbed. SNKP want to keep that type of niche fanbase while attracting more of the mainstream without trying to dethrone SFIV because they know KOF just wont appeal to that mass audience.
The problem was that if Capcom released a new version of SFIV when XIII was released on console, SNK would be left headbutting the wall SF wouldnt give KOF a chance Capcom is a marketing steamroller. There isnt one fighting game that can rival SFIV in terms of sales. Its just impossible. Everyone can take advantage of the sales of SFIV for the fighting scene in general but they cant compete with it. So the plan for SNKP was to make sure the release of XIII didnt coincide with any other fighting game release. Because of that, SNKP wouldnt say anything at all before Capcom announced SFIVAE which they have now done, so now it is safe for SNKP to announce XIII. I can officially say it 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 SFIVs. SNKP understands that the games 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. Its hard to define with words but SFIV players are jealous when they see us playing this game.