Celebrate love and war as Freyja joins Fight of Gods

The Norse goddess associated with everything from love and beauty to war and death has been added to Digital Crafter's deity-based fighter.

Freyja fights with a large fiery axe and seems to focus on melee attacks. She is FoG's first DLC character and will cost players $2.99 in addition to the cost of the full game. In addition, the game has been updated with a number of changes and balance fixes.

Fight of Gods is still currently in Early Access on Steam. Readers can check out the Freyja trailer after the jump.

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The King of Fighters: The Orochi Saga coming to PS4?

The collection of five games spanning the initial years of The King of Fighters franchise looks to be headed to the PlayStation 4 in the near future.

PS4 trophies for the collection, which included KOF 94-98, have appeared online with specific missions for players to complete in all five games. Normally when a trophy listing appears for a title, an announcement of the game is not far behind.

While nothing is official about the collection at this time, it seems most likely that it will be a emulated version of the compilation's PlayStation 2 release from 2008. The Orochi Saga does come at an odd time, however, with KOF 94-98 currently released under Hamster's Arcade Archives NEOGEO banner and King of Fighters '97 Global Match coming in spring 2018.

Chun-Li dons Star Gladiator attire as new Extra Battle costume

The next crossover costume has been revealed for Street Fighter V and it sees Chun-Li dressed as Star Gladiator's Jun Lin Milliam.

Star Gladiator was a 3-D fighter first released by Capcom in 1996. It spawned a sequel, Plasma Sword, and most fighting game fans will remember its main protagonist, Hayato Kanzaki, from Marvel vs. Capcom 2. As with other Extra Battle costumes, players will have to complete four weekly challenges to unlock Chun-Li's new costume in SFV.

The Jun costume Extra Battle Challenges start on Feb. 15, and there will be additional Shadaloo soldier challenges to help players gain Fight Money or level up a character. Readers can head to Capcom Unity for more information including specific challenge time frames.

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 version 2.1 released

The newest revision to Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 has landed in arcades in Japan, bringing with it a list of changes to each character in the game.

The main news coming out of the patch is that seemingly all the changes that were made for the location test have been retained in the update. This means big changes for both Baiken and Answer, and buffs for characters such as I-No while Chipp has gotten nerfs.

These tweaks and alterations have been translated by GreatFernMan and can be found on Evernote. While the update is only in arcades for the time being, it is scheduled to be released on PC and console platforms sometime in March 2018.

Welcome to the jungle: Blanka joins Street Fighter V on Feb. 20

Capcom has unveiled the trailer and release details for the second of SFV's Season 3 DLC characters, Blanka.

Blanka returns in Street Fighter V appearing similar to his SFIV incarnation, but he has one major tool added to his arsenal: a command grab. Blanka's V-Skill is his Coward Crouch, which now has two follow-up abilities that can be used to either attack or advance on his opponent. His first V-Trigger, Jungle Dynamo, powers up his ball and electricity so that they do more damage and create juggle states for additional hits. His second V-Trigger, Lightning Beast, gives him the ability to follow any ball with a new move, Rolling Cannon, that can be angled in any direction. It is very reminiscent of Jon Talbain's Beast Cannon from the Darkstalkers series.

Blanka will be available separately or as part of the Season 3 Character Pass. Readers can check out his trailer after the jump.

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Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. 2 coming to arcades in 2018

A new arcade version of Bandai Namco's popular arena fighter will be coming before the end of the year.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. 2 will be the first numbered sequel of the Extreme Vs. series, which started in arcades in 2010. The most recent update is Extreme Vs Maxi Boost ON, which was first released in 2016 but has continually received updates in the form of new mobile suits.

According to Gematsu, a location test for the new game is scheduled for summer 2018 in Japan. It is unknown at this time if the release of Extreme Vs. 2 will have any effect on Gundam Versus, or if the PlayStation 4 and arcade versions of the Gundam Vs. series will remain independent but related titles going forward.

Readers can check out the game's teaser trailer after the jump.

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February update brings changes to Injustice 2

As part of the addition of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Injustice 2, the team at NetherRealm Studios has prepared a new patch to further tweak the game.

Along with some general adjustments to gameplay, like the addition of premier skin selection to tournament mode, there are character-specific changes to the DC brawler. Not every combatant will be affected by the patch, and some will only receive a small change. The big news, however, is that Catwoman and Supergirl are receiving nerfs, while characters such as Poison Ivy, Sub Zero, Raiden and Aquaman got various buffs.

Readers can find the full patch notes at the official WB Games website.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles kick shell in Injustice 2 on Feb. 13

NetherRealm Studios has unveiled gameplay footage and a release date for the next DLC characters coming to Injustice 2.

Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael will launch on Feb. 13 bringing four new styles of combat to the NRS fighter. While all turtles will have similar base moves and strings, each will bring his own flair to the attacks. All four turtles will also have individual character powers that reference their personalities: Leonardo has assists because he is the leader; Donatello uses gadgets; Michaelangelo fights with his trusty skateboard; and Raphael launches into an attacking frenzy by "getting hype."

As usual, players who own the Ultimate Edition of Injustice 2, Ultimate Pack or Fighter Pack 3 will have the turtles on release, and those looking to purchase them separately will have to wait.

Readers can check out the turtles' trailer after the jump, and for more a in-depth description of each turtle can also view the Injustice Watchtower stream archives as well.

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Yang Xiao Long joins BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle

During the games lineup announcement for Evolution 2018, a video from Arc System Works revealed another RWBY character will be coming to BBTag.

Yang Xiao Long is the last of the series' fourth protagonists to be announced for BBTag. However, she will be free DLC for the title along with the previously announced Blake Belladonna. According to Arc System Works' Toshimichi Mori, the company plans to have those characters available for players as soon as possible.

No in-game footag of Yang was shown at this time. BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle comes home on May 31, 2018, in Japan and June 5, 2018, for the rest of the world.

Evolution 2018 lineup announced

In a sit-down interview with Mark Julio on Red Bull eSports, Joey "Mr. Wizard" Cuellar revealed the games that will be part of Evo 2018.

The Evolution staff has chosen eight games for competition at this year's Evo: Tekken 7, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, Guilty Gear Xrd Rev. 2, Injustice 2, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Dragoin Ball FighterZ.

Cuellar also revealed that Rev 2, Melee, T7, SBFZ and SFV will be the five games that are featured in the stadium during Evo Sunday finals.

In addition, Arc System Works made two announcements in videos. The first showed BBTag's Toshimichi Mori revealing that RWBY's Yang Xiao Long will be coming to the game and that both her and Blake Belladonna will be free DLC coming out soon after the game's release. The second featured Guilty Gear's Daisuke Ishiwatari saying that the game's new balance patch will be coming to the PC and console platforms in March 2018. 

Registration for Evo 2018 starts on Feb. 15 at 12 p.m. PST on the official Evo wbesite. Evolution 2018 is coming Aug. 3-5 at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevadad.

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 version 2.1 comes to arcades on Feb. 14

After a short location test, the next update to Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 will be released in mid-February.

The new version will arrive roughly a month after Arc System Works announced its existence during the ASW Fighting Game Awards 2017. The company added a lengthy list of changes to the game for the location test (translations by GreatFernMan), but it is unknown which modifications have stuck for the update and which have been discarded. Hopefully ASW will provide a document listing the changes closer to or on release of the patch.

Although the update will also roll out to the console and PC platforms, no date was given for its release at this time.

Them's Fightin' Herds coming to PC on Feb. 22

Mane 6's upcoming four-legged fighter has an official release date for the end of February 2018.

Them's Fightin' Herds will launch on Feb. 22 with six characters; a "unique overworld story mode" and online lobby system using pixel art; and GGPO netplay. A seventh character—a goat—will be added to the game after release and according to the Mane6 Twitter account the team plans to bring the game to Apple and Linux platforms within 2018.

The title will see its first official launch despite being available in its earliest days as a My Little Pony fan game, named Fighting is Magic, before twists and turns changed the final product.

Readers interested in Them's Fightin' Herds can head over to Steam for more information on the title, and can check out trailer after the jump.

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Capcom Pro Tour 2018 schedule coming Feb. 19, two dates revealed

Capcom has announced the first two Premier events for 2018's Capcom Pro Tour, along with a date when the whole schedule will be available.

The pro tour will once again start with Final Round, as 2018's iteration of the Atlanta major happens on March 16-18. NorCal Regionals will be the second Premier event, taking place from March 30 to April 1 in Sacramento, California.

The rest of the tour's schedule will be released on Feb. 19, and Capcom looks forward to "another year of high level competition on the Capcom Pro Tour with Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition and Season 3."

Team Liquid says goodbye to NuckleDu

Du "NuckleDu" Dang has ended his tenure as part of Team Liquid, according to a new video from the team.

Dang first joined Curse in November 2014, being added to Team Liquid as part of the merger of the two organizations in early 2015. Throughout his time on Liquid, Dang has had continued success in Street Fighter with his biggest accolade coming from his victory at Capcom Cup 2016.

In the video, Liquid's co-CEO Steve "LiQuiD112" Arhancet briefly talks about Dang's history with the team before wishing him the best in his future plans.

Readers can check out the video after the jump. Dang had posted in early January that he was open to accepting "new opportunities" with the end of his Liquid contract, so it will be interesting to see what plans NuckleDu has made for the future.

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Dragon Ball FighterZ hitbox viewer by Altimor

Reddit user Altimor has released a beta verson of a mod that will allow players to see the hitboxes in DBFZ.

For those unfamiliar with hitbox viewers, they will often show at least three type of box: the active hitbox, which represents the area covered by an attack; the hurtboxes of both characters, which show where they can be hit by opposing moves; and a pushbox that is used to as a way to prevent characters from moving through one another in the game. Depending on the game, there can be adaptations or changes to this rule.

While the mod is fully functional, the creator does note that "the boxes aren't filled in and there's no in-game toggle" to switch it on or off at this point.

Readers can find a link to the viewer as well as instructions on how to use it at Reddit.

Capcom announces fixes coming to next Street Fighter V update

A number of gameplay-related bugs have been discovered by Capcom in the time since the release of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, leading to future corrections by the developer.

These fixes will include small changes like combo scaling alterations for Laura, Ibuki and Urien but also much larger ones like the removal of Uriens accidental Tyrant Blaze invulnerability after armoring a hit using his Metallic Sphere V-Skill. Abigail, meanwhile, will no longer be able to activate V-Trigger on the first hit of Abigail Punch and his Metro Crash will have its armor reduced to two hits.

Capcom says these changes will be in the game's next update, but does not have a release date announced at this time. Readers can head to the Capcom website for the full list of changes.

Nintendo Switch Online coming in September 2018

Nintendo has set a release window for its paid online service, stating that it will become available in September.

This will mean the end of free online play for Switch titles, as that feature is only available until the paid service launches. To compensate, Nintendo will be offering a rotation of classic games, updated with online play, for subscribers as well as eShop deals. More basic online features, such as access to Nintendo's eShop and maintaining a friends list, will be unaffected by the rollout.

Switch Online will launch at a lower cost than online services from Sony or Microsoft, with a month of Nintendo's service costing $3.99 and a full year priced at $19.99. For more details on Nintendo Switch Online, readers can head to the official Nintendo website.

Aegislash smashes and bashes into Pokkén Tournament DX

The sword and shield Pokémon has joined Pokkén Tournament as part of the game's first wave of Battle Pack DLC, and brought with it a new gameplay trailer.

Aegislash is a steel and ghost-type Pokémon that can switch between Blade Forme and Shield Forme to adapt during battle. It is joined in wave one by support Pokémon Mega Rayquaza and Mimikyu.

Readers can check out the Aegislash trailer after the jump. Pokkén Tournament's Battle Pack DLC is currently on sale for $14.99 and will also include a second wave of content, launching March 23, that will feature Blastoise and support Pokémon Mew and Celebi.

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Dragon Ball FighterZ frame data by AnBi

The creator of GunFrame has added Dragon Ball FighterZ to his list of interests, compiling frame data for some of the game's characters and sharing his methods with the community.

Using DBFZ's training mode record feature and YouTube streaming, AnBi has so far created frame data documents for Android 16, Gotenks, Hit, Captain Ginyu and Kid Buu.

AnBi's method does mean counting frames manually, so mistakes are possible, and it may seem tedious to some players, but for now it is the best way to get a fairly accurate idea of advantage and disadvantage in DBFZ. He has invited other players to use his method in hopes of getting the data for every character in DBFZ that much faster.

Readers can find the links to AnBi's work on his Twitter.

King of Fighters '97 Global Match coming to PC, PS4, Vita

At Evo Japan 2018, SNK announced that King of Fighters '97 will be coming to model platforms with online play.

The King of Fighters '97 Global Match will be a port of the classic game to PlayStation 4, Vita and PC with no changes to the core gameplay.

While few details about the port are available at this time, Code Mystics handled the PS4 releases of Garou: Mark of the Wolves and Samurai Shodown V Special so it's possible they will be working on this title as well.

The King of Fighters '97 Global Match is scheduled for release sometime in spring 2018.