New Virtua Fighter Reportedly Being Revealed This Year

Sega is headed in a new direction, as the publisher is looking to resurrect a number of franchises that have been left dormant over the years. Back in December, Sega co-COO Shuji Utsumi revealed that Virtua Fighter will be among the franchises coming back. Utsumi strangely made that announcement right after Sega's trailer at The Game Awards, where several other upcoming games were teased. As a result, we haven't actually seen anything from this new Virtua Fighter just yet, but apparently that will soon change. According to reliable Sega leaker Midori (known on Twitter as @MbKKssTBhz5), a reveal for Virtua Fighter is coming this year.

The Tweet from Midori can be found embedded below. 

And new Virtua Fighter reveal later this year.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) March 20, 2024

Virtua Fighter vs. Street Fighter

At this time, we don't know much about the new Virtua Fighter game. Speaking to the Washington Post in December, Utsumi talked about the series in comparison with other fighting games, noting that "Virtua Fighter doesn't use so many tricks, special moves like in Street Fighter, it's very realistic." However, the development team is looking for ways to "make it more dramatic." Earlier this month, Midori also stated that Sega is aiming to make the new Virtua Fighter "a modern competitor to Street Fighter and Tekken." If that really is the case, it makes sense given Utsumi's previous Street Fighter comparison. Capcom's fighting game series is one of the biggest in the world, so it would make a lot of sense, but readers are advised to take all of this with a grain of salt. 

The Sega Comeback

This new Virtua Fighter is just one of several new games Sega currently has in development. As previously mentioned, Sega announced a new Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, and Jet Set Radio at The Game Awards last year. Official details are slim about all of these games right now, though it's widely believed that the new Shinobi is being made LizardCube, the team behind Streets of Rage 4 and the Wonder Boy and the Dragon's Trap remake. The art style seems very similar, and LizardCube posted some kind of tease on Twitter right around the time of Sega's announcement during The Game Awards. 

At this time, we don't know how long it will be before any of these games are released, but Sega will be bringing back Super Monkey Ball with a brand-new series entry in June. While Sega has released two games in the series over the last few years, Banana Blitz HD and Banana Mania were mostly comprised of existing content. When it releases on June 25th, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble will be the first wholly new game in the series in about a decade. 

Are you interested to see the new Virtua Fighter when it releases? What do you think about all these new games coming from Sega? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!