Sega's Virtua Fighter is considered to be the first fighting game to break new ground, making the shift from 2D to 3D and ushering in a new era of fighting games. Since its arcade beginnings in 1993, the Virtua Fighter franchise continued well into the late-2000s with the release of Virtua Fighter 5.

Virtua Fighter's last release was, for the longest time, 2012's digital-exclusive Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, with its final piece of content, 2015's Rev B, being included as a bonus arcade game playable in Yakuza 6, Judgment, and Yakuza: Like A Dragon. However, recent news may show that Sega is not quite finished with Virtua Fighter 5 as many had initially thought.

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During the Tokyo Game Show in 2020, Sega revealed a new Virtua Fighter game centered around esports, but aside from a minute-long trailer featuring competitors at various tournaments, details about the game were scarce. Many fans assumed that it would be based on Virtua Fighter 5 instead of an entirely new Virtua Fighter, and the latest information from the Game Rating committee in Korea may shed more light on that claim.

GRAC, Korea's version of the ESRB, updated its game list to include a new entry titled Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown. According to the listing, the rating was placed on March 19, two weeks prior. While Virtua Fighter 5 and its subsequent updates were released on both Microsoft and Sony consoles, it seems this listing is only for the PS4 as of right now.

As the working title of the game suggests, the Virtua Fighter esports game is a new version of Virtua Fighter 5 altogether, with emphasis on online competition. While not the new Virtua Fighter game that many fans and developers alike would prefer and expect, Sega breathing new life into a long-dormant franchise could be the electric shock the series need to reignite interest for future titles.

Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown is slated to release sometime in 2021 for PS4.

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Source: grac.co.kr