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.
https://twitter.com/MbKKssTBhz5/status/1764466836718924157?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1764466836718924157%7Ctwgr%5E886f1c4bedd88c938beeeec3b5451ad338a481b9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fgamerant.com%2Fvirtua-fighter-new-game-details-leak%2F
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.
https://twitter.com/MbKKssTBhz5/status/1764466839063560291
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.
https://twitter.com/MbKKssTBhz5/status/1764466841160659312
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.
https://twitter.com/MbKKssTBhz5/status/1764469402232148194
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.
https://twitter.com/MbKKssTBhz5/status/1764473659974901829
https://twitter.com/MbKKssTBhz5/status/1764875123465539626
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.
