Sega is bringing the Virtua Fighter series to Steam for the first time this winter with Virtua Fighter 5 REVOthe fifth major version of the fighting game that debuted in 2006. That’s right; that “new” Virtua Fighter that a Sega exec teased earlier this month is yet another version of the 18-year-old Virtua fighter 5.
Although it may not be the Virtua fighter 6 what many hoped for, Virtua Fighter 5 REVO seems to bring some welcome new changes to the game. The latest version brings rollback netcode support for online battles, 4K visuals with updated high-resolution textures, and additional game balance changes for REVO‘s roster of 19 playable characters, Sega says.
Sega and developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio – the people behind the games Like A Dragon and Judgment – promise multiple modes including ranked, arcade, training and versus, plus 16-player tournaments and leagues for online competition.
The original version of Virtua fighter 5 debuted in arcades in 2006 and was ported to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 the following year. In 2008, Sega delivered Virtua Fighter 5 Rfeaturing new character Jean Kujo and bringing sumo wrestler Taka-Arashi back to the playable roster. Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown was then released to arcades in 2010 and to PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2012. Final confrontation is also playable in the virtual arcades of various games from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s games.
Earlier this month, Sega’s executive vice president of global transmedia Justin Scarpone Chronicle of Video Games that the company was developing another Virtua Fighter game, leading to long-awaited speculation Virtua fighter 6 was in the making. Sega is busy making new Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe, Shinobi and Crazy Taxi games, so hopes were high that a brand new Virtua Fighter would be in the mix as well. However, VF fans will have to wait a little longer for that and satiate themselves with a better-than-ever version of it Virtua fighter 5 for now.