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The team behind the latest entry in the Virtua Fighter series, Virtua Fighter Crossroads, has revealed that they pitched the project's bold new take on the iconic fighter to series creator Yu Suzuki to ensure they were on the right track.
As revealed in the latest trailer, released during Summer Games Fest, Virtua Fighter: Crossroads, which is being developed by the Yakuza studio Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, doesn't just feature a traditional versus mode.
Instead, it will also come with a built-in action-adventure experience, where players can explore the fictional Southeast Asian city of Vilasapara and engage in fights with multiple enemies at once.
Its story is being penned by Ghost of Tsushima’s Brad Kane, with oversight from David Hayter, and will also star a bunch of new characters, including Cielo Salinas, Stella Bridge, and two as-yet-unannounced fighters, who will reportedly replace the series protagonist, Akira.
It's quite a significant departure from previous games in the series, and has drawn comparisons to the Yakuza series and Yu Suzuki's Shenmue series in its style and execution. However, Riichiro Yamada, the producer and creative director of this game, said they weren't initially thinking of Shenmue when they were originally making it. Instead, it was only as development progressed that they began to realise how amazing the concept of Shenmue was, deepening the team's respect for what Yu Suzuki and the Shenmue team had achieved.
According to a recent interview with IGN Japan, the team therefore wanted to get the thoughts of the man who created the Shenmue and Virtua Fighter series to begin with, to see whether he approved of this new direction. In response, he gave them the encouragement they needed.
"We explained that we wanted to create a home console game like this as the latest instalment in the Virtua Fighter series," says Riichiro Yamada, the game's producer and creative director. "At that time, Mr Suzuki told us, 'For a home console game, it’s essential to develop the characters’ backstories properly.' It felt as though he had given us a boost, reassuring us that we were on the right track.’
Replying to the article on Twitter/X after it was published, he expanded on this, giving a little more details about his own feelings about how the conversation went: "When I first came up with the concept for this game, I had the chance to present it to Yu Suzuki. I was honestly so nervous — he was already a legend when I joined the company.
"When he praised the concept, I was truly happy. For a moment, I felt like I was that rookie from 20+ years ago again."
Virtua Fighter Crossroads is scheduled to release in 2027.