Sega announced the first new entry in the Virtua Fighter franchise in 18 years last night during The Game Awards.
A short teaser with impressive graphics showed a man in a trenchcoat and a hat punching someone else through a wall before walking away. It closes on footage of two people sitting at a screen playing what’s presumably the new Virtua Fighter with a fight between the trenchcoat-wearing character and a woman who resembles someone from earlier games, Sarah Bryant.
The characters were identified as Akira — who’s classically dressed in a white gi — and a new character named Stella in the Virtua Fighter Direct presentation that Sega uploaded to YouTube shortly after The Game Awards ended.
No release date or platforms were announced, even during the Direct presentation. The game is being developed by Ryu ga Gotoku Studio, makers of Sega’s long-running Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise assisted by staff from Virtua Fighter’s traditional studio, AM2. Sega’s arcade-focused divisions have been folded into its consumer divisions in recent years.
Virtua Fighter debuted in arcades in 1993 before coming home in 1994 on the Saturn where the series had a large presence. From the first two main games to spinoffs like Remix and Kids to the collection of computer-generated artwork released in Europe and Japan, plus a Japan-only online version of Remix and strong representation in the mashup Fighters Megamix, Virtua Fighter was an essential part of the Saturn’s DNA.
The most recent mainline entry, Virtua Fighter 5, debuted in arcades in 2006 and on consoles the following year. Since then, Sega has made several revisions, most recently a PlayStation 4 port called Ultimate Showdown in 2021.
That version is getting released on PC via Steam next month under the name Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. and Sega is using the occasion to celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary — even though that was last year, technically.
In addition to the base game, there will be a 30th Anniversary Edition of VF5 R.E.V.O. featuring digital bonuses like costumes, music from throughout the franchise and pre-production materials from development of the first game, some of which Sega said had never been made public before.
There’s also a preorder bonus paying tribute to some of the Sega consoles where Virtua Fighter games have appeared: the Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast, which will be character customization items. (Sorry, Game Gear.)
The 30th Anniversary Edition is on a pre-purchase sale price of US$39.99 while the standard edition is on sale for $15.99, both 20% off what will be their regular price points.
The Virtua Fighter Direct announced some physical goods, as well, including clothing on Amazon and physical releases of Virtua Fighter 2 for Xbox One and Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown for PS4 through Limited Run Games.
Collector’s editions of Limited Run’s offerings include longboxes with covers evocative of Saturn and 32X boxarts, but they’re purely cosmetic — there won’t be reprints of the versions of Virtua Fighter that appeared on those classic consoles.
For fellow SHIRO! Dan the Megadriver’s thoughts on the news, check out his SEGA Guys video:
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