Sega Promises to Take on Tekken With Virtua Fighter Announcement

Tekken 8 wasn't the only fighting game with a major announcement at The Game Awards this year.

Even though Tekken's new Final Fantasy XVI crossover with fire-wielding Clive seemingly eclipsed all other fighting game news—garnering over a million views in just three days on YouTube—Tekken's big brother, Virtua Fighter, also revealed a trailer announcing they're throwing their hat back into the fighting ring with its first mainline entry in the series since 2006.

It's been a long time, so naturally, the game's reveal has VF veterans buzzing with excitement.

But let's not forget— Sega's Virtua Fighter is considered the original 3D fighting game as it came before Tekken, releasing in arcades way back in 1993.

"More than 10 years late! But we've been waiting for you [Virtua Fighter]! Now get in the ring!

And fight!” —Katsuhiro Harada, Tekken Director, on X

The return of such a legacy fighter is monumental.

Despite not generating the same number of views as Tekken in the same amount of time—likely due to VF's absence from the spotlight for over a decade—the visuals and artwork for the game are impressive.

They signify that Sega plans to contribute something the fighting game space could use more of: realism, grit, fluid gameplay, and cinematic kung fu choreography reminiscent of classic 90s Jet Li films.

Pair that with the competitive integrity that Virtua Fighter helped pioneer, and it's easy to see why Japan's top VF players—who hold the series in such high regard—still play the game in Tokyo arcades to this day.

Currently, there are no current-gen Soulcalibur or Dead or Alive titles—games notoriously known for co-occupying the 3D fighting arena alongside Tekken.

This is significant for the world of fighting games—a genre that was once defined by comparisons between Tekken and its contemporaries. Fans have largely attributed the lack of new entries in Soulcalibur and Dead or Alive to low sales and difficulties retaining a dedicated player base.

Whatever the reason, Bandai Namco and Team Ninja have chosen not to announce new 3D fighting games. While Street Fighter 6 and Mortal Kombat 1 have recently launched as major entries in their respective franchises, they aren't 3D; characters in those games can't sidestep and are restricted to fighting on a linear plane.

During a live broadcast, the development team shared only a few details about what we can expect from the new entry in the franchise.

They emphasized their desire for Virtua Fighter to once again be known for its innovation in fighting games, just as it was in 1993 when it first introduced the world to 3D fighting.

Surprisingly, during the live stream, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang made an appearance, supporting and congratulating Sega on the revival of the franchise.

He cited the historical significance of the decades-long partnership between NVIDIA and Sega as they strive to deliver the very best visuals for Virtua Fighter. For context: Sega was involved with developingNVIDIA's first major product, the NV1 chip. Virtua Fighter Remix and several other Sega Saturn games were ported to PC with NV1 compatibility.

All this VF news must've come as a surprise to Tekken's team. Earlier this year, Katsuhiro Harada, Tekken director, took to X the night of the announcement, stating:

"9 years… No wonder I'm getting older. And for years now, all that is announced are 2D fighting games, whether they are completely new games or numbered games. The fact that there are no competing 3D fighting game titles is just unfortunate for me."

But it looks like that's all changing now. Harada and the Tekken team will finally have competition. We'll see who wins the 3D battle for 2025.

Virtua Fighter is planned for release in 2025 and will launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.