Wilnas follows in the Summer, while Meg arrives this Fall. The Demon Sergeant, Ilsa, rounds out the roster in early 2026. The game offers 35 playable characters, four debuting at launch and six more added via the first Character Pass (including NieR: Automata’s 2B).

Whether the meta will shake up with Sandalphon’s arrival remains to be seen, so stay tuned for more details. Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is available for PS4, PS5, and PC. You can check out our review for the base game here – we gave it an eight out of ten, with the art direction and combat systems garnering most of the praise.

Opposing Lucilius, Sandalphon is more than 2000 years old. As the Primarch of Promises, he possesses incredible powers despite mostly fighting with a one-handed sword. These include elemental projectile attacks, from direct flaming shots to earthen spikes from below. His multiple wings also come into play, though it’s unknown whether this is a powered-up state or for his Super Skybound Art.

Stay tuned for more details on Sandalphon and his move set in the coming weeks. Cygames also confirmed release windows for the remaining fighters in Character Pass 2. The next debuts in Spring 2025, followed by the next in Summer 2025, then Fall 2025, and the final DLC fighter in early 2026.

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is available for PS4, PS5, and PC. Check out our review for the base game here.

All three titles are live from September 6th to October 3rd, and will also be available for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium members. As for what to expect, Granblue Fantasy Versus is a fighting game by Arc System Works with a decent single-player mode, diverse character roster, and questionable netcode. Nevertheless, it looks good and has solid combat mechanics.

Need for Speed Heat is an open-world racing game by Ghost Games, and focuses on street racing, both legal and otherwise. If you’re looking for a more arcade-style racing game with plenty of jumps, frantic escapes from the cops, and more, it may be worth a look. Finally, those seeking a more chilled-out experience with a colorful art style can check out TOEM. It’s all about photography and puzzle solving with some intriguing characters.

Stay tuned for details shortly on the newest upcoming titles for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers.

Need for Speed Heat is Ghost Games’ last major title in the franchise, set in the open world of Palm City (styled after Miami). It focuses on racing events during the day, which awards cash and illegal street racing at night. Evading police in the latter provides REP which is necessary for upgrades.

Granblue Fantasy Versus is a 2.5D fighting game developed by Arc System Works and based on Cygames’ mobile gacha RPG. It offers an extensive roster and accessible combat, along with a story-focused RPG Mode. As for TOEM, it’s a photography-focused game with puzzle-solving and an adorable monochrome art style.

Along with PlayStation Plus Essential, all three games will be free for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers. Stay tuned for the official announcement from Sony in the meantime.

The lineup features the staples of the tournament for the past couple of years, such as Capcom’s Street Fighter 5, Bandai Namco developed Tekken 7, Arc System Works Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Granblue Fantasy Versus. What is interesting to note is that NetherRealm Studios-developed Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, which was originally removed from the lineup back in 2020, is making its comeback.

Apart from the above, Skullgirls 2nd Encore is making its comeback. SNK’s The King of Fighters 15 and Arc System Works Guilty Gear Strive are making their EVO debut as well.

Unfortunately, Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late [cl-r], which was announced to join the ranks back for EVO 2020, is not coming back, nor is the Marvel Vs Capcom 2 invitational tournament. However, the general manager of Evo, Rick Thiher, assures that they have something in the works for it very soon- check out his tweet down below.

The registration for the event has also officially begun, letting those interested register to take part in the tournament.

Registration for Evo 2022 is NOW OPEN!

Head to https://t.co/WgXv1e2fEK and register now!

We can't wait to see you all offline and in-person August 5-7 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas!

Thank you to our special guests and viewers who joined us for the Evo 2022 lineup reveal show! pic.twitter.com/qiJwz2eGwL

— Evo (@Evo) March 9, 2022

For those immediately asking, we have not forgot about MVC2. So give us some time and keep that spirit bomb warmed up.

— Rick (@TheHadou) March 9, 2022

Granblue Fantasy Versus

Cygames’ mobile RPG envisioned as a fighting game with side-scrolling hack and slash RPG battles, weapon grids and bosses? It’s doable but Arc System Works took the idea and ran with it, using its incredible visual style and art direction for each character and environment. The combat has a decent amount of depth with Skybound Arts (which are executable using a single button, if necessary). The online play could be improved – as is always the case with these kinds of games – but Granblue Fantasy Versus is still a worthy title especially with updates and new fighters rolling in.

Dreams

It’s hard to measure the level of fidelity in Media Molecule’s Dreams. The main story mode, Art’s Dream, is stunning with its painting-esque backgrounds, ethereal textures and stellar particle effects. However, the creation tool-set is where things truly become crazy. Players have been creating everything from first person hack and slash titles with realistic graphics to mind-blowing sculptures of a full English breakfast. It’s a lot to take in and this is only just the beginning.

NOTE: This interview was conducted prior to the game’s launch.

"Arc System Works was already knowledgeable of Persona 4 Arena‘s game mechanics, and the flow of feedback for that project helped this title’s development run more smoothly."

What was it about Granblue Fantasy in particular that drew you to it and to the idea of making a fighting game based on it?

First of all, we at Cygames didn’t think it was realistic to develop this game on our own. So, we reached out to Arc System Works (ASW), since they have developed many aspirational titles. They’ve also mastered unique shader and animation techniques while working on projects like Guilty Gear Xrd. We thought their high-profile skillset and Granblue Fantasy’s iconic art style would be a perfect match for Granblue Fantasy: Versus (GBVS).

Taking a property that’s firmly rooted in the RPG genre and turning it into a fighting game must be an interesting process, but Arc System Works did something similar with Persona 4 Arena as well. Did experience on that game and any ideas during its development help out with the development of Granblue Fantasy: Versus?

Arc System Works was already knowledgeable of Persona 4 Arena‘s game mechanics, and the flow of feedback for that project helped this title’s development run more smoothly. We even heard there were ASW staff members who had already been playing Granblue Fantasy (GBF) heavily, so from the beginning we knew we had a team with knowledge of GBF and passion for GBVS.

The competitive scene tends to be one of the first things most think about when it comes to fighting games, and games developed by Arc System Works generally tend to do that as well. What sort of an approach to competitive play are you taking with Granblue Fantasy: Versus?

Arc System Works identified several elements of the genre to be improved upon in Granblue Fantasy: Versus. That included agreeing not to make certain types of stages in GBVS, especially those that weren’t popular in previous ASW titles. In terms of the competitive scene, I feel like our focus on spectatorship is reflected in the game system itself. This title may not be as fast-paced as other ASW titles, but we believe that specific aspect makes it easier for audiences to follow the action. Even viewers who don’t understand the game mechanics can still enjoy watching the battles unfold.

Granblue Fantasy: Versus strikes an interesting balance between having accessible gameplay and having mechanical depth that can still take a while to master- what was behind the decision to go with a more beginner-friendly approach for this game?

Since this game is based on Granblue Fantasy, many mobile gamers were keeping their eyes on GBVS from the beginning, and we’re hoping to open up the door for new players to enter the fighting game arena. There are many younger users in Japan who’ve only played games on their smartphones before, so our priority was to deliver to those generations the feeling of fun that comes with having direct control over their characters’ actions. That’s the reason why we wanted to make commands as simple as possible while still keeping the satisfaction of executing traditional fighting game commands.

"Since this game is based on Granblue Fantasy, many mobile gamers were keeping their eyes on GBVS from the beginning, and we’re hoping to open up the door for new players to enter the fighting game arena."

Roughly how long is the story mode in Granblue Fantasy: Versus?

The RPG mode in GBVS takes approximately 10 hours to complete, without skipping. It could be shorter depending on how familiar players are with the action game mechanics.

How important was the pre-release beta period in terms of collecting feedback from players and making adjustments to the game based on that? Were there any elements in particular that were tweaked or changed significantly as a result of feedback?

This can get misunderstood quite often, but we ran the closed beta test (CBT) to check and measure the network connection and load, not to adjust the actual game balance. However, the CBT was also a perfect place to hear lots of valuable feedback, so we listened and implemented some of the feedback. The biggest change we made was to tweak the input for super skybound arts. It was surprising, though not entirely unexpected, to hear that the command “63214+R” was too difficult for many players. Our philosophical intent was that players should be taking a risk by pressing forward to activate the skill, but we took the plunge and changed it to “236,” which is same as a standard skybound art. Ultimately, we believe it was the right decision to make.

Do you have any plans to launch on the Switch or Xbox One?

We don’t have any plans for that at this time.

With next-gen approaching, have you given any thought to porting the game to PS5?

I’m interested in shorter loading times on the PS5. That said, I don’t see much room for a PS5 port of GBVS to significantly enhance the core experience, so I’m not really considering that right now. However, if we ever release GBVS2 in the future, then we may possibly consider a multiplatform launch on both PS4 and PS5.

Does the game feature PS4 Pro-specific enhancements? Is 4K/60 FPS on the cards?

GBVS runs at 60fps on both PS4 and PS4 Pro. On PS4 Pro, the game is compatible with 4K.

How is the game running on the original PS4, in terms of frame rate and resolution?

GBVS runs at 60fps/Full HD on the PS4.

There’s been a lot of talk of SSDs, which the PS5 is confirmed to feature. What’s the biggest impact it’s going to have on development, according to you?

I was actually quite happy to hear that the loading times for PS4 games will be even faster on the PS5, and having the majority of the PS4 titles available on the PS5 should greatly encourage players to make the jump to next-gen consoles, so I hope that fact will be known and promoted even more than it is now.

"If we ever release GBVS2 in the future, then we may possibly consider a multiplatform launch on both PS4 and PS5."

Speaking of next-gen hardware, something else that the PS5 is going to have is a Zen 2 CPU- how big of a leap is it over current-gen hardware in your view, and how is it going to help development?

To my knowledge, only a few developers in Japan can already develop PS5 games that utilize the technology well beyond what the PS4’s specs offer at this moment. I’m looking forward to some amazing games from Western developers, and we at Cygames plan on working hard to keep up with other studios.

For the coming couple of years, it’s safe to assume that most third party titles that get published won’t be putting all their eggs in the next-gen basket, and will choose to release on both, current and upcoming platforms (hell, Microsoft themselves have vowed to continue Xbox One support for the foreseeable future). That’s the way things usually go with console generation transitions, and there’s no reason to believe that won’t be the case this time as well.

Case in point: Cygames and Granblue Fantasy. In collaboration with fighting games connoisseurs Arc System Works, they recently released Granblue Fantasy: Versus, but should they choose to make a sequel in the near future, it’s very likely going to be a cross-gen game.

Speaking recently to GamingBolt in an interview, Cygames’ Tetsuya Fukuhara – creative director of Granblue Fantasy: Versus – said as much when we asked him if they had considered porting the game to the PS5. According to Fukuhara, though Cygames don’t see much scope for making significant improvements to the game with a next-gen port (outside of shorter loading times), should they make a sequel, they will consider releasing it for both, PS4 and PS5.

“I’m interested in shorter loading times on the PS5,” Fukuhara told GamingBolt. “That said, I don’t see much room for a PS5 port of Granblue Fantasy: Versus to significantly enhance the core experience, so I’m not really considering that right now. However, if we ever release Granblue Fantasy: Versus 2 in the future, then we may possibly consider a multiplatform launch on both PS4 and PS5.”

Of course, whether or not a sequel even ends up being made is wholly contingent on how well the first game does, but based on the fighter’s initial sales, the odds seem to be in its favour.

Granblue Fantasy: Versus itself is available on PS4 and PC. Two new characters were recently added to the game as DLC, while another is on the way soon.

Update: The official trailer for Djeeta is now available. Check it out below.

Original Story:

Burly brawler Soriz isn’t the only DLC character coming to Cygames’ Granblue Fantasy: Versus next week. In a recently leaked trailer, Djeeta was also revealed to be releasing on April 7th. While Gran is the male default player character in the mobile game, Djeeta is his female counterpart.

As such, she has a different moveset from Gran and even her own special moves. Along with being available as part of the Character Pass Set, players can also purchase the “Additional Character Set: Djeeta.” This includes a lobby avatar, support character icon, two additional quests and the “Gran & Djeeta GBVS Ver.” outfits for Granblue Fantasy on mobile. Equipping these outfits will cause each character’s skills to match those of the fighting game.

The trailer also indicates that the next DLC character, Zooey, will receive her own trailer on April 17th. It wouldn’t be surprising to see her release near the end of next month. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime. Granblue Fantasy: Versus is currently available for PS4 and PC.