Sega’s long-dormant Virtua Fighter franchise will be making a comeback, with the publisher recently revealing that none other than Ryu Ga Gotoku will be helming its next entry. With RGG’s portfolio being mostly dominated by the prolific Yakuza franchise, which certainly borrows its fair share from the fighting game genre, hopes are high that this next Virtua Fighter will be something special.
The 2025 Consumer Electronics Show was the venue for Virtua Fighter‘s new in-engine footage. Though it is presented as gameplay, the footage makes it very clear that it is simply pre-development footage made in-engine, meaning that it is effectively a pre-animated cutscene meant to approximate what the final product could look like. In other words, it’s a proof-of-concept video. But this proof-of-concept has a lot to dig into, particularly on the animation front, and it would be surprising if RGG could manage to get the actual Virtua Fighter 6 gameplay to look like it. For better or worse, this is the expectation that Sega and RGG have set.
Related
Virtua Fighter 5: Every Major Change In Ultimate Showdown
Ultimate Showdown revitalized the Virtua Fighter franchise with many new features, game modes, and more.
Virtua Fighter 6 Trailer Sets a High Bar To Clear
The Virtual Fighter 6 Concept Trailer Is Stunning
Graphically, Virtua Fighter‘s CES concept trailer is fairly gorgeous: character models and background elements are realized in impressive detail, hair and clothing physics are true-to-life, and lighting effects are convincing and aesthetically pleasing. But at the same time, these graphics aren’t exactly anything to write home about, especially when compared to other games in the fighting genre, which tend toward great visuals in general. No, the truly impressive part of this trailer is the animation quality.
The video, which showcases a fight between two versions of the character Akira, stuns with its realization of believable and detailed fight choreography. When one Akira blocks an attack from the other, for instance, he doesn’t simply put his guard up. Rather, he reacts to the assault the way someone in a real life fight might, planning his defense around the angle, position, and force of his opponent’s strike. Combining these blocks, of which no two are the same, with equally well-animated dodges makes this fight look like something straight out of an action movie—it’s a far cry from something like Tekken or Street Fighter. Of course, this is just a concept trailer, but if it reflects Sega and RGG’s intentions with the full game, then Virtua Fighter 6 could represent a definitive leap forward for its genre.
How Virtua Fighter 6 Could Adapt Its Trailer’s Strengths
Realistically, Virtua Fighter 6 probably won’t look as good as it does in its concept trailer. The fact that the footage has been rendered within the game engine means that it is technically possible to produce visuals of that quality, but the sheer amount of work that would need to go into making dynamic animations that granular is borderline absurd. RGG would have to make unique animations for every possible attack from every single character, factoring in things like distance and positioning, leading to several thousand distinct animations. Moreover, while the trailer looks great, such verisimilitude may not translate to enjoyable gameplay; the flow of battle could be choppy and not conducive to most playstyles.
But that doesn’t mean that the final game can’t have some leftovers from the concept trailer. It would be great to see a fighting game that takes matters like type of attack (strike, jab, kick, etc.) into account for block animations. Other fighting games may have the defender make small adjustments based on attack type, distance, and other factors, but not to the degree seen in the Virtua Fighter 6 trailer. It’s been many years since the last proper Virtua Fighter release, so if the franchise is looking to make a splash, then maybe this revolutionary level of animation detail could be the ticket.
