Sega’s legendary Virtua Fighter series is set to make a return, the publisher has confirmed, some 18 years after the launch of its most recent numbered instalment, Virtua Fighter 5.
Since then, there’ve been numerous updated releases of Virtua Fighter 5 (culminating with 2021’s Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown, itself a remaster of the earlier Final Showdow), alongside mobile instalments, and even a arcade update for Virtual Fighter 3. What series fans haven’t had, though, is a brand-new game.
But now, Sega’s new global head of transmedia, Justin Scarpone, has offered some hope in an interview with VGC. “So we have a suite of titles in development right now that fall into that legacy bucket,” he explained, “which we announced last year at The Game Awards; Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Shinobi.”
Then came the bombshell. “And we have another Virtua Fighter being developed,” Scrapone added, before glossing over the revelation completely, “And then in certain instances, we’re also doing animation series, or live-action films to augment that and be part of those roadmaps.” It’s not, then, confirmation a new mainline Virtua Fighter instalment is on the way exactly, but it’s something to chew on at least.
Despite announcing a flurry of legacy game revivals last year – including Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Golden Axe, “and more” – details remain limited. Sega has shared a little about its Crazy Taxi update – calling it an open-world, massively-multiplayer game that’s “AAA” in scope – but it’s yet to talk launch windows, other than saying it’ll “release these projects in the coming years.”
