The first official art for Sega’s new Virtua Fighter eSports game has been published on PlayStation Network. It was discovered by Twitter tracking account PSN Releases on the Asian version of PSN. While there’s not much to go on here – the art is just a banner and an icon- the alternate name, Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown, which matches a listing published on South Korea’s game’s ratings board earlier this month, gives us a better idea of what the project might be: an updated version of Virtua Fighter 5.

Sega revealed a teaser trailer for a “Virtua Fighter X eSports” project during their Tokyo Games Show livestream in September, but didn’t actually announce what the project was. The only other information we got came from Sega CEO Haruki Satomi, who described described Virtua Fighter X Esports as “a project commemorating the 60^th year anniversary of [Sega]” that would begin in Japan and would be a “restart” focused on eSports and competitive play.

Whatever the title is, a new Virtua Fighter would be excellent news for fighting game fans. The brainchild of legendary OutRun and Shenmue designer Yu Suzuki, who recently suggested he might return to the series, Virtua Fighter was the first 3D fighting game. The series is renowned for its incredible technical depth and excellent design.  The last game in the series was Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, which was released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2012. It is widely considered to be one of the best fighting games of all time.

The game Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown with id CUSA27067 has been added to the PS4 asian PSN! pic.twitter.com/jWZGM7PwJL

— PSN releases (@psnrelease2) April 21, 2021

Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown contains the definitive version of VF5, refined over the years since its original arcade debut. The new release also adds an extensive list of features never before seen on consoles.

The game is already out on the PSN and XBL and is priced at $15 and 1200 MSP respectively.

Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown contains the definitive version of VF5, refined over the years since its original arcade debut. The new release also adds an extensive list of features never before seen on consoles.

The game is due for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Here is the announcement trailer for the next title in the long awaited Virtua Fighter series, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown.  The game is due out sometime in 2012 for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.  It is also listed as an Arcade title so it may be on other platforms when it is released.

Sega have announced that Virtua Fighter  5 will get an update and expansion released as a standalone title for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The new game, entitled Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, will contain a full overhaul of Virtua Fighter 5’s mechanics, balance and animations, along with new game modes, new dynamic fighting arenas, a collection of customisable character items and two all-new characters added to the roster. Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown is expected to be available in Summer 2012.

“Virtua Fighter 5 has always been an authentic arcade fighter, even when played from the comfort of a home console. And, like any proper arcade dynasty, we’ve continued to support, expand and tweak the game in the years since its release,” said Haruki Satomi, Vice President of Digital Business at SEGA of America and SEGA Europe. “With Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, we get to bring the ultimate expression of competitive one-on-one gaming to console players in one perfect package.”