Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown confirmed as PS4 exclusive – out in June

Sega has officially announced the return of Virtua Fighter 5 but it’s not yet clear whether it’ll be free on PS Plus next month.

After a ton of leaks and rumours, Sega has finally confirmed that Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown is real and that it’ll be out next week.

It will be a PlayStation 4 exclusive (but presumably backwards compatible on the PlayStation 5) and is intended to be part of Sega’s 60th anniversary celebrations, with a new graphics engine and input from both original developers AM2 and Yakuza developer Ruy Ga Gotoku Studio.

The Virtua Fighter series began in 1993 and was the first ever 3D fighting game. Virtua Fighter 2 was also extremely popular, especially in Japan where you take night classes in how to play the game properly.

Once Tekken got on the scene though the franchise’s popularity quickly plummeted, and it’s barely been referenced at all in the last decade (although main character Akira did turn up in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as an assist character).

Rumours of the game’s existence have repeatedly suggested that it’s aimed at the esports scene, which makes sense as the series has always been highly technical – much more so than any other 3D fighter.

According to the official reveal on IGN, Ultimate Showdown will feature 19 playable characters, as well as new background music for each stage, a new user interface, and opening cut scene.

You’ll also be able to spectate online matches and play in private or public lobbies of up to 16 players at a time.

The only part of the rumours that hasn’t been confirmed yet is that the game will be free on PlayStation Plus next month, although it may simply be a matter of time before that too is officially announced.

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