Get Ready to Fight!

New games come out all the time. It is rare, though, for three major players of a specific genre to all have new games coming out around the same time. In 2023, all the gamers interested in fighting games are talking about the “Big 3” and their next upcoming installments.

 Street Fighter

The series that made fighting games known to a wider audience, Street Fighter, is about to launch its next game. Street Fighter 6 will be coming out on June 2 on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. There is also an arcade version scheduled for later. The game will feature, as always, a mixture of old and new characters, and this time it looks like the story will be focused on Luke, a character who first joined Street Fighter V as DLC. It will also include a mode in which the player can customize their character and explore an open world. Yes, in a Street Fighter game.

Mortal Kombat

Next up is Mortal Kombat 1. No, this is not a typo; this is how the game will be called. The reason is that the game will be another reboot of the series, taking the players to the beginning of the story, following a different timeline. The game will come out on September 19 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch. We have not seen gameplay yet, but judging from the trailer, there will be no lack of blood, broken bones, and gruesome deaths. It has also been revealed that Johnny Cage will now have a skin based on the likeness of Jean-Claude Van Damme. Yep, for real.

Tekken

Then, it is Tekken 8. Bandai Namco’s popular 3D fighting series has already announced its eighth installment. While we don’t have an exact release date yet, the new addition should be out not too far in the future, as we are getting constantly new trailers and some select players participated in a testing session of the game. Tekken 8 will be released on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

It is really a great time to be a fan of the genre. It’s not the Golden Age of fighting games, as this was in the ‘90s, but is certainly a fighting games Renaissance.