This weekend, Arc System Works is hitting up EVO 2022 with its headlining fighters and a few announcements for Guilty Gear Strive Season 2. On day one of the Las Vegas show, developers on Guilty Gear took to the stage to outline Strive’s PlayStation 5 improvements, upcoming character releases, and crossplay functionality.
Perhaps some of the biggest cheers from the panel were for Arc System Work’s confirmation they were working to improve current Guilty Gear Strive performance woes. As it stands, competitive players prefer the PS4 Pro version of Strive to circumvent the nasty input lag players see on its PS5 release. The plan is to launch this update over the summer, along with improvements to the Steam version that should decrease loading times for matches by 30-40 percent.
And while Strive crossplay is something the developer promised a while back, the feature saw a window at EVO. This fall, Arc System Works will roll out its crossplay beta test for PS4, PS5, and Steam versions. For now, we don’t have details on how to sign up for the community test. However, Arc System Works noted they’d try to implement crossplay functionality as soon as possible after trialing it in September. So, if all goes according to plan, perhaps we’ll see crossplay in Strive close to fall or winter 2022.
In terms of roster changes, we don’t have official confirmations on the who, but we do have timeframes. The Guilty Gear roadmap outlines four new fighters, dropping two this year—one in summer, then another in fall. The end of summer is coming up fast in September, so perhaps we’ll finally see that new addition soon. Here’s to hoping my personal fav Robo-Ky joins recent additions, like non-binary hottie Testament.
As for winter and beyond, Guilty Gear Strive Season 2 should see a major battle balance patch before 2022 ends. That update seats itself after Strive’s sixth and seventh new fighters release. It’s too far to call what we’ll see from the patch, but Arcsys should make its tweaks this winter. In 2023, you’ll see the next two fighters join Strive, plus two new stages.
Other update goodies, like additional character colors, split between releases for early this year and 2023. Ultimately, we didn’t get into the nitty-gritty details but Strive at least as some ballpark windows now. Just keep in mind these things are tentative, and the team stressed that a few times during their presentation. Since the weekend isn’t over, perhaps we’ll see a few more surprises from Strive at EVO. The full panel is up on Twitch, and EVO wraps up this Sunday, August 7. I’m pretty damn bad at fighting games myself, but the spectacle of EVO weekend always makes me wish I wasn’t.
