Sega had the 1st Virtua Fighter Direct last week to celebrate the teaser that they had put forth. Shuji Utsumi, the current president of Sega, took to the stage after several clips of each game in the series had been shown. .
From the beginnings with Virtua Fighter to the latest in Virtua Fighter 5: R.E.V.O. RGG’s Riichiro Yamada will be heading the new Virtua Fighter project. Aoki, the producer of the legacy projects, also spoke about Steam’s Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. and 2.0 for PlayStation 4. Yokoyama, from RGG, ended the show for the company’s end.
Ryu Ga Gotoku has been showing the series love, for quite some time, in several Yazuka titles. Nearly each title includes the offline version ports each Virtua Fighter game. RGG discussed mostly about the projects, but the new Virtua Fighter Project did not get as much light as many had hoped it would in terms of visuals to cover gameplay.
Prepare For The Next Battle
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. will be at Evo Japan 2025 and also having its’ own Open Championship. Ultimate Showdown had made an appearance at Evo Japan 2022, and had also run a league called Virtua Fighter Camp. This will be VF returning to the world stage. Frosty Faustings XVIII will be the first major for Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. on January 23-26.
Virtua Fighter also has its own discord server now, too, for matchmaking and other items. All the more reason to check in on Virtua Fighter Dot Com for updates on when tech will be available for research.
The Celebration Continues
A Virtua Fighter 2 Limited Edition, dubbed “Classic Edition” will be released for Xbox. Armed with character cards, and game boxes that ressemble both NA long form and JP short form editions of the game in Sega Saturn form, the preorders have opened up until January 12th.
Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown ver. 2.0 will be getting three limited editions for the PlayStation 4. The physical standard edition, the Classic Edition, and Collector’s Edition. The Classic Edition will have a Sega 32X esque box with the original cast in their first debut form as a reversible jacket. It will also come with the soundtrack.
The Collector’s Edition will hold more goods such:
- Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown ver. 2.0 Game with Reversible Cover
- the Soundtrack,
- Art Book
- Commemorative Coin
- Certificate of Authenticity
- and of course – the Retro and Modern Akira Statue
Akira is the main character of the game, so it’s fitting to see him get the statue treatment. Amazon will also have limited edition Virtua Fighter 30th Anniversary shirts for sale, also. Each version of the games will be released in segments between May and October 2025.
Remembering Virtua Fighter from yesteryear
Some special guests have also came to discuss the series. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nividia, had some time to express his excitement for the latest project as well as some Nividia history with Sega during the first Virtua Fighter. Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan al saud, of the Saudi Esports Federation, shared some words, also. Mark “Markman” Julio of Evo’s Global Business Development Division, also had some things to say about the latest updates on Virtua Fighter.
Last but not least, the father of the series came to chime in. Virtua Fighter and Shenmue producer Yu Suzuki made an appearance and gave a brief statement about what he has already seen from the Virtua Fighter project build that he has played. He is excited about RGG’s take on the series.
Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown ver 2.0 is available now on PlayStation 4 | 5. Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. will be available on Steam on January 28th. More Virtua Fighter Directs will be expected in the coming months.
