I won’t mince words: I never would’ve thought we’d get another Virtua Fighter game again. But, according to Sega’s Justin Scarpone? Not only are we getting a new Virtua Fighter, but many other Sega classics will be making a comeback! To be fair, some of these we knew about already. However, Sega definitely buried the lede and threw major announcements in a 30-second sizzle reel at one of the gaming showcases.
Scarpone spoke to VGC at the recent Gamescom Asia event. Having joined the company this year as Sega’s new Executive Vice President and Head of Global Transmedia Group, he dished out what we could expect in the company’s foreseeable future! “So we have a suite of titles in development right now that fall into that legacy bucket, which we announced last year at The Game Awards,” Scarpone states.
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“Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Shinobi, and we have another Virtua Fighter being developed. And so all that’s very exciting. And then in certain instances, we’re also doing animation series, or live-action films to augment that and be part of those roadmaps.” Yeah, just casually snuck that one in there.
sega drops a major announcement on us like it’s nothing
God, when was the last time a Virtua Fighter game came out? …Oh! 2021! Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown! …Though, if I’m being fair, that one doesn’t count. It was, after all, one of the many updates Virtua Fighter 5 released. Which came out in 2007 (on consoles, anyway). Suffice it to say, we’re long due a full entry in the franchise! Maybe I can eke out a few wins with my boy, El Blaze. I’m always a sucker for anyone in a fighting game with a wrestling moveset.
Sega, why would you do this? Any of those games would be worthy of a five-minute gameplay reveal at a major gaming event! It’s insane that they went, “Oh, yeah, new Crazy Taxi, Shinobi, Streets of Rage, and Jet Set Radio games are being developed or whatever.” It has an undeniable mad lad energy to it. But then, Sega has been on something of a hot streak lately. So, I’ll allow it!