Notorious Sword Art Online Game Is Back, but Is It Fixed?

It’s time to go back online as Bandai Namco has finally re-released Sword Art Online Variant Showdown for smartphones, but is this notorious mobile title finally fixed? The game was released in the bygone era of 2022 before going down for maintenance in September 2023. The reason for the maintenance was to fix several horrendous glitches that made the title nearly unplayable in many parts. After over a year of being offline, Variant Showdown has re-launched with a new trailer and content. The game will have a new power-up system, new game modes, new playable characters, interface improvements, and in-game voice acting.

Variant Showdown is a third-person action RPG game featuring the cast from the Sword Art Online novels and anime. The title’s narrative follows Kirito and his friends playing a new game called Cross Edge. The cast investigates rumors about the new title, including whether players are losing their memories and whether there’s any connection between the game and the Laughing Coffin guild from the main SAO series. New characters included for the Variant Showdown re-release are Mito and Agil. The game now has a three-player cooperative multiplayer mode, allowing groups to play together and use unique combos with the different characters.

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Sword Art Online Variant Showdown Was Shut Down Due to Bugs

Sword Art Online is all about virtual reality and video games, making it a perfect fit for the franchise to have a title that caters to mobile users. Variant Showdown promised fans an authentic SAO experience with show-accurate graphics, but instead, fans got a barebones game with plenty of bugs and glitches. Players and fans have expressed frustration towards the game through various social media posts, including Reddit.

Most of the gameplay has players sidestepping to avoid assaults and attacking while stationary, with each character having unique skills. Even though the gameplay wasn’t special the bugs gave Variant Showdown a notorious reputation among gamers and SAO fans. Players would get trapped in the title screen, the camera would clip underneath the arena, and the game would perform terribly. The game is also a gacha title, forcing players to grind or pay to earn stuff. Variant Showdown had to have multiple emergency maintenance before it was seemingly put into its long-form maintenance in 2023. Even though it’s still too early to tell, the Variant Showdown relaunch does give players a more polished-looking experience with improved UI and better presentation.