Between all the releases we’ve had in the fighting games camp, one franchise has been left in the cold for far too long. Thanks to twitter, Virtua Fighter might be getting way more than just a place by the fire. The infamous leaker, Midori(MbKKssTBhz5), is at it again in the Sega camp. After their leaks of Atlus’ Persona being as impressive as it was, grain of salt might not be what this is for us.
Virtua Fighter
— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) March 4, 2024
• It is online and esports focused and has online and offline modes including customization modes.
• There are new characters with a modern art style and character artist.
• It is a game concept that changed many times since 2021 up to now.
Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown being what they’re referring to. Ultimate Showdown was the rebuilt Final Showdown that was created for Esports back in 2021 by the Yakuza team and AM2.
• Streaming and spectating implementation is an important part of this title and Super Game concept.
— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) March 4, 2024
• It is a reboot of the Virtua Fighter series in development by current Virtua Fighter staff.
• It is a title releasing on all major platforms with crossplay and rollback.
Not to be outdone by its’ only fully 3D rival, Tekken 8, it seems as though the game will be meant to take it on with the new basic fighting game needs covered.
This is a Virtua Fighter title that is developed to be a modern competitor to Street Fighter and Tekken with esports concepts and mechanics that are similar to current Street Fighter and other fighting games. It is a concept that evolved a lot.
— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) March 4, 2024
The mechanics side is intriguing enough for this. The Virtua Fighter series has evolved throughout various iterations, but the fundamentals stayed without overly done gimmicks such as Supers or Rage Arts. Most of its’ evolution in this deparatment have been geared towards offensive evasions to chase down the opposition. Virtua Fighter 3 introduced an evasion button called Dodge – which didn’t stick around too long before it was incorporated into the basic directional movements in later installments. There is a sense of a more grounded realism to VF. To hear that VF will try to implement something to the new game, as a reaction to the two current giants, is unprecedented.
And there is all new main story and side stories with brand new characters.
— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) March 4, 2024
In the past, the Virtua Fighter story was always considered more of a secondary requirement than a first with less of a focus. Mysterious ninja’s mom gets kidnapped and turned into a super weapon by a company hell bent on taking over the world yet holds a fighting tournament. Not too much there with VF only through the lens of text and extra lore. The anime loosely did this justice.
And there is an evolution of ranked matches that is similar to modern fighting games. This is a title that is focusing on scaling with the player and their play styles when they play online.
— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) March 4, 2024
・Daishi Odashima is involved in this project.
— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) March 5, 2024
・RGG Studio assisted with development.
・The main concept is Battle Universe. It is an open space where you can spectate fights.
・Development began in 2021, but early ideas for this title go back to almost ten years ago.
Soul Calibur V’s director has a seat on this. So, it seems that the project itself started back a bit after Final Showdown’s release back in 2010, but the development happened during Ultimate Showdown’s release.
From the looks of it, it seems that long overdue Virtua Fighter news could be pretty convincing from the rumor mill. Even though Virtua Fighter is not a part of the Sega revitalization effort directly, announced at the Game Awards last year, it might be something we can look forward to seeing more of in the near future.
