Sega recently said that it would be looking to revive dormant IPs with remakes and remasters. Ask Sega fans what property they’d like to see come back, and most of them will bring up the legendary fighting series, Virtua Fighter. In recent weeks, thanks to leaks, that’s looked pretty likely as well. Now, it’s been made official.
Sega has announced Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown (via IGN). It’s a band-new ground-up remake of Virtua Fighter 5, which was originally released for PS3 and Xbox 360. The game is being developed by an “all-star” team at Sega AM2 and Yakuza and Judgment studio Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios. It will even use the latter’s engine, the Dragon Engine.
While the core gameplay and mechanics are going to be kept intact, fans can expect a lot of updates and improvements. On top of updated visuals, Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown will feature new music for every stage, a brand new user interface, new lighting and shaders, and a new opening cinematic. Players will also be able to spectate online matches in real-time, while the game will also allow you to create custom 16-play round-robin online tournaments. Private and public lobbies will also support 16 players, and feature communications tools such as stamps. It definitely seems (appropriately enough) that the game is going to focus on esports quite heavily.
Interestingly enough, the game has been announced as a PS4 exclusive. It’s also going to launch sooner than you’d think, with a release date set for June 1.
Check out its announcement trailer below, courtesy of IGN.
Recently, it was leaked that the game would be part of PlayStation Plus’ June lineup, but it hasn’t yet been confirmed whether the game will be available via PS Plus at launch.