Hype levels on high at the US gaming championship after big announcements
GUILTY GEAR Xrd REV 2
It was a weekend full of excitement and close encounters as some of the world's most competitive gamers came together to battle it out at EVO 2019 - but there were also some unexpected surprises waiting for fans worldwide.
Arc System Works was already heavily featured at the event, what with its 2012 released arcade-style fighting game UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[st] as one of the main tournament titles, but the developer-publisher also made a big announcement - a new Guilty Gear is coming!
Attendees at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada - as well as millions watching via Twitch online - got a first glimpse at the new game, which is set to launch in 2020. Not a lot of information has been revealed as of yet, but what we do know is that Daisuke Ishiwatari will be taking on the role of general director for the game, with Akira Katano also directing.
It's fair to say that gamers were impressed with the initial teaser trailer footage, with many taking to social media to express their delight for Arc Systems' latest fighting game in the formidable GG series.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The new Guilty Gear looks graphically stunning! Maybe I'll pick it up, never played GG before and alwyas wanted to 😊</p>— - ̗̀ⒶⓃⒺⓀⓈⓊⓏ ̖́- (@Mangamaskinen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mangamaskinen/status/1158291730682253312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yo that new <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GuiltyGear?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GuiltyGear</a> tho. So Hyped, I NEED that right now.</p>— Shockz N' Drawe (@ShockzNDrawe) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShockzNDrawe/status/1158289224015237120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Damn... I watched that new <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GuiltyGear?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GuiltyGear</a> trailer like 20 times now.<br><br>... it's gorgeous 😭</p>— D-Piddy 🎭 (@_dpiddy) <a href="https://twitter.com/_dpiddy/status/1158289071849951234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
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In addition to Arc's big announcement, Bandai Namco also confirmed two additional characters are coming to TEKKEN 7 as part of third Season Pass content - martial artist Zafina and kung fu master Leroy Smith. Players will remember Zafina from Tekken 6 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2, while Leroy is a completely new character to the series.
However, fans were stunned when an image of Metal Gear Solid protagonist Solid Snake came up on screen, insinuating that he would be joining the TEKKEN roster, similar to big names such as The Walking Dead's Negan in TEKKEN 7 and Geralt of Rivia in SOULCALIBUR VI.
However, there was a reason why this wasn't aired on live stream footage as it turned out to be a "little joke" by the EVO organisers, who quickly took to social media after the event to apologise (to Bandai Namco) for any confusion.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">snake??? what are you doing here? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tekken?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tekken</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MetalGearSolid?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MetalGearSolid</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EVO2019?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EVO2019</a> <a href="https://t.co/mukJF5KlSa">pic.twitter.com/mukJF5KlSa</a></p>— LightningCam @ EVO (@LightningCam) <a href="https://twitter.com/LightningCam/status/1158178913014521856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Bandai also announced that Haohmaru from Samurai Shodown will be included in the SOULCALIBUR VI Season Pass 2, as well as shield-wielding Cassandra, who first debuted in SOULCALIBUR II, being confirmed as the last character to be added to Season Pass 1.
EVO 2019 Champions
If you're just catching up on who won what in the tournaments, here are your EVO 2019 Champions:
SOULCALIBUR VI - Yuta 'Yuttoto' Sudo
UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[st] - 'Clearlamp'
Dragon Ball FighterZ - Goichi 'GO1' Kishida
Samurai Shodown - Seon-Woo 'Infiltration' Lee
Mortal Kombat 11 - Dominique 'SonicFox' McLean
