Before Tekken and Soul Calibur could walk, Virtua Fighter showed the world how a 3D fighting game should look and play. The first Virtua Fighter was a pivotal moment in the genre, and an inspiration for the first video games using polygons for their character models. It feels archaic to play now, but its legacy is undeniable.
After almost 20 years, Ryu Ga Gotoku and SEGA are ready to inject new life into Virtua Fighter 5, setting the stage for the first truly new game in two decades. R.E.V.O. promises to bring new and exciting gameplay modes, while the sixth main entry will bring the series to new heights.
At EVO 2025 in Las Vegas, TheGamer spoke with producers Seiji Aoki and Riichirou Yamada to learn more about the latest version of Virtua Fighter 5 and the new sequel.
Play Like You Want, With Whoever You Want
One of the most important additions for Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. is the World Stage, a new single-player mode. In it, you participate in a huge tournament where you can name your opponents and play against CPUs based on real-life professional players.
“We’ve been getting requests for a single-player mode for a while now,” says Aoki. “I want people to come up with opponent names, so it really feels like you’re actually competing with a famous celebrity or someone like that.”
Aoki is proud of the userbase of Virtua Fighter 5, a game that was originally released in 2006 and has been receiving new versions since then. When he speaks about the challenges of keeping the entry alive, he mentions adding cross-play and a professional circuit into the mix.
“It’s the first time in the Virtua Fighter franchise we have multi-platform cross-play. I think we had to work hard on that since we didn’t have any experience. We had to learn a lot.
The Virtua Fighter Open Championship is the first time for the franchise to hold a tournament in the world. There are a lot of things that we are not used to, but we want to support the fans and make it to the Global Finals.”
When I asked Aoki why the team keeps building on VF5, he explained that he wants to continue expanding the community. That’s why they focus on creating an environment that gives you opportunities to play no matter what platform you have, so everyone is able to join in and start playing the series for the first time regardless of their experience level.
“I really want people to kind of feel that a 3D fighting game began with Virtua Fighter, and that Virtua Fighter is the origin of the 3D fighting game.”
The Next Evolution In Virtua Fighter
After my time with Seiji Aoki, I spoke with Riichirou Yamada about the first brand new entry in the series. He can’t go into much detail about many things (we haven’t even watched a single round of this game yet!), but Yamada feels like RGG is developing a game-changer after a 20 year wait.
“I think the most important thing is to give the player an experience that they’ve never had before,” Yamada explains. “That’s what I want to do. I have a lot of ideas for that. Many people are playing the new game, and they’re coming up with a lot of ideas.”
“When you’re fighting with an opponent and they punch you or hit you, I want you to actually feel that damage. Even when you’re only playing, I want that kind of natural response to come out of the player.”
Over three decades, Virtua Fighter has been bringing something to the 3D fighting genre with each numbered entry. Always keeping up with the new technological advancements in the industry, the development team has always differentiated itself with its search for realistic and grounded battles. While ridiculous situations can take place, you’ll never see fantastic characters doing magical things, like in Tekken.
“When we release a game, we want to achieve a top-class performance,” says Yamada. “That’s what we’re talking about as a team. We are very good at showing expressions and the qualities of human beings and characters. That’s why VF would like to keep providing a realistic expression.”
Virtua Fighter Needs To Impress Everybody
When I asked Yamada how he feels about one of the current hot topics in the genre — the question of whether to focus on new players or hardcore fans of the series — he mentioned that it’s a tricky spot.
“If you don’t get young fans, the franchise itself will die,” Yamada explains. “I think that happens not only in fighting games. It’s important as a producer to find a balance. That’s why everyone in the industry is having a hard time.”
“As the series goes on, the fan age range starts to get older and older, and we don’t really get newer fans if we only focus on the nature of the series. Because we haven’t been releasing games for such a long time, I feel we are able to make a huge difference right now. We will go over the top, but at the same time, we will also make it appealing to the old fans.”
Last year, I had the chance to speak with Michael Murray and Katsuhiro Harada about Tekken 8’s first months after launch. They were happy with it, but they also missed some form of competition with the lack of new 3D fighting games. I asked Yamada what he thought about this comment, and how the team sees Tekken 8 as a rival.
“I respect Mr. Harada, but I don’t compare with him,” he explains. “I have respect for Tekken, and I do a lot of research on what other game companies are doing, but I don’t really like to compare [VF] with other games. I want to bring out what the series and I can do to impress the users.
“There are a lot of competitors, but I’m not really comparing myself with them. What I can bring out to the world is what’s most important to me.”
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. is already available on PC and will launch on the rest of the platforms on October 30. On the other hand, VF6 is still a mystery, but we will learn more about it at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show.
