Virtua Fighter 5 is returning for the first time in 18 years, sort of

It’s been a long time since Sega has touched the Virtua Fighter franchise. While players aren’t getting a new entry in the fighting game franchise (although maybe they should), the series is making a small comeback on Steam this winter.

Sega made an announcement on X Friday that Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O, an upgraded version of the 3D fighter Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown, is now available to wishlist on Steam. More details will be shared at a later date, but for now, we know that it’ll be playable in 4K resolution and up to 60 frames per second, will have gameplay balance tweaks, upgraded visuals, and, best of all for fighting game fans, rollback netcode, so there won’t be any latency regardless of your platform. It’ll also feature new online modes that’ll allow up to 16 players to compete.

Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. arrives this winter on Steam!
Wishlist today:

Featuring:
• Rollback Netcode
• Up to 60fps/4K support
• Gameplay balance adjustments and more

More details on Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. will be shared in the future. #VF5REVO… pic.twitter.com/hWHaYBkYp4

— SEGA (@SEGA) November 22, 2024

Virtua Fighter is one of those somewhat forgotten arcade fighting game franchises, not getting as much love as Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. There were five main entries, and the last one, Virtua Fighter 5, came out in 2006. It’s been re-released a few times since then, with Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown launching in 2021 and bringing new music and updated graphics to PlayStation 4. That does mean you can still play Virtua Fighter 5 if you have a PlayStation Network account, and it’s still one of the best fighting games for the PS5. R.E.V.O is sort of a PC port of this version, but with more modern features.

Sega isn’t giving up on Ultimate Showdown though. Gematsu reports that a 2.0 balance update is coming to Ultimate Showdown when R.E.V.O releases.

If that’s still not enough for Virtua Fighter fans, this is a good reminder that there’s a nearly complete version of Virtua Fighter 5 inside Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Yakuza 6. A version of Virtua Fighter 2 is also available on Steam for just $1.