This has been quite a week for Virtua Fighter and SEGA fans. Earlier this week, they officially announced Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown for PlayStation 4. The game features completely remade graphics, updated BGM, and a new UI. One question that still lingered was the online mode.
In September, the company teased this title as eSports focused during a Tokyo Game Show event. As an eSports focused title, it would be a good idea for their new Virtua Fighter game to have optimal online experiences. According to an e-mail received by Kotaku from SEGA, this will not necessarily be the case.
Speaking with Kotaku via email, a Sega rep explained that Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown’s online modes build directly off the previous console release, 2012’s Final Showdown. And while that game’s online multiplayer was well received at the time, its use of an archaic technology known as delay-based netcode, which is more prone to debilitating bouts of lag, might hinder its acceptance in today’s fighting game community.
Kotaku
It’s possible that SEGA will be updating the network closer to the game’s release date. As of this writing, however, that’s unfortunate news to hear for serious competitors within the fighting game community. We’re all super excited to see the franchise making a comeback in 2021. We hope the game does well and prompts the company to make a Virtua Fighter 6.
Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown is coming out on June 1st as a PlayStation 4 exclusive. PlayStation Plus subscribers can download the game for free.
