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Okay for fighting

It’s fair to say that the Evolution Championship Series, better known as “Evo”, returned in grand style this weekend. Evo 2022 saw Guilty Gear Strive, Street Fighter V, DNF Duel, Dragon Ball FighterZ, The King of Fighters XV, MultiVersusand many, many other scrappers take the stage and stream globally, as players from around the world gathered at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas in their respective bids to claim The Best of The Best.

And against the background of this totally exciting In a cacophony of violence, the biggest fighting game developers and publishers also took the opportunity to share exciting news, details and updates regarding their current, upcoming and (in some cases) past fighting game releases to their fans.

And so, for those of you who couldn’t quite handle the red eyes of staying up into the wee hours, here’s a quick rundown of all the fighting game news from this year’s tournament, which saw a veritable banquet of character reveals, technical upgrades, new releases and obscure teasers to keep fists flying well into 2023 and beyond.

Guilty acceleration pursuit:

Yo-yo master and all-round sweetheart Bridget returns today, August 8, as the first Season 2 DLC character. The crossplay beta is slated for September, with a launch tentatively slated for late 2022.

Developer Arc System Works is currently investigating reducing both long loading times and the special frustrating server connection times at startup. In addition, GG Striving has crossed the sales mark of a million. Check out the roadmap for season 2 here.

Street Fighter:

Capcom dropped an official reveal for veteran troublemaker Juri and newcomer Kimberly, who are both slated for the 2023 release Street Fighter 6. Watch their new trailer here. We’ll be looking at these characters later today.

SNK:

The legendary arcade developer had arguably the biggest and most exciting series of updates to its Evo 2022 presentation. Regarding The king of fighters XV, SNK confirmed a second season of DLC for 2023 and reveals a new team of characters from Samurai Shodown. Speaking of which, it was also revealed that SamSho itself will receive a rollback netcode update in the spring of 2023, which will hopefully breathe new life into a great, undersung fighter.

SNK has announced that it is working on a brand new Fatal Dury/Garou title, but no other information was revealed.

Tekken:

In a slightly confusingly presented reveal at the end of the Evo 2022 Tekken 7 final, Bandai Namco announced that the 3D fighter would get a new tournament season in 2023, with a brand new balance update scheduled for August 17. lovely new Kazuya Mishima model, seemed to announce … something. A lack of concrete confirmation, complete with a terribly The commentator’s confusing response, has led to confused community musings as to whether this was? Tekken 8, a Tekken 1 remaster, or something completely different.

Dragon Ball Fighter Z:

Not much to report for the brilliant, long-lasting tag fighter from Arc System Works. Fans didn’t leave empty-handed, though, as it was announced that the rollback netcode would go to the anime fighter in the near future. The update will launch on PC alongside the game’s all-new PS5 and Xbox Series X ports, while PS4 and Xbox One fans should stay tuned for further announcements.

It was also announced that Lab Coat 21 is the final final DBFZ character. In addition, there will be no more balance updates in the future. DBFZ is essentially “complete”.

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Skullgirls: 2nd encore:

Speaking of longevity fighters, Autumn Games’ Skullgirls: 2nd encore had a great weekend, with lots of eyes on the stylish, durable 2D fighter. In addition to new footage of the incoming Blach Dahlia, it was revealed that: skull girlsAlmighty Boss, Marie, will finally make her grand debut as a playable character across PC, console and mobile platforms in 2023.

Melty Blood: Lumina Type:

Following the recent plague of new DLC characters Mash Kyrielight and Neco-Arc, Melty Blood director Kamone Serizawa released a six-minute video detailing the upcoming mechanical changes of the Tsukihime fighter, balance adjustments, and gameplay overhauls. . These include a rework of the Shield system, as well as changes to Dashes, Moon Drive, and combo mechanics. In addition, the development team is exploring netcode improvements and an updated Replay feature. You can watch the full video below.

Multi vs:

At Evo 2022, Player First Games revealed a few fun tidbits for the upcoming platform fighter, announcing that the leaderboard mode will officially launch in Season One’s delayed update. Additionally, two new DLC costumes were revealed, a restyling of LeBron and DC Comics hero Robin, and Bugs Bunny in his legendary Valkyrie costume from the award-winning short film, What is Opera, Doc?

A new date for season one remains unannounced.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimate:

The re-release of Atlus’ very flashy anime fighter has received a rollback netcode update. It is now available to download on PS4 and PC. This will be a huge relief for P4A fans, as Atlus previously seemed a bit disinterested in the idea of ​​implementing the much-vaunted online technology.

Burning Strike:

AkSys Games’ Retro-Infused 2D Fighter Blazing Strike has been hit with an unfortunate delay and will no longer meet the previously announced 2022 street date.

“It’s heartbreaking to admit, but Blazing Strikethe release date has been pushed back to spring 2023,” tweeted developer RareBreed Makes Games. “However, this delay will help polish the game to ensure the best possible gaming experience (maybe with cross-play), so I really hope you guys stay a little longer.”

Blazing Strike launches now in Spring 2023 on PlayStation, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Arcade 1UP:

Retro arcade cabin developer has announced its latest incoming cabinet, which celebrates Capcom’s legendary 2000 release marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. Available for pre-order on Arcade 1Up starting September 8, the new cabin will feature a total of eight Marvel/Capcom fighters from the 1990s and 00s.

Evo Japan takes place in Tokyo from March 31 to April 2, 2023. Evo returns in the summer of 2023.

Chris Moyse

Senior Editor – Chris has been playing video games since the ’80s. Former Saturday Night Slam Master. Graduated with honors from Galaxy High. Twitter: @ChrisxMoyse