Guilty Gear 2020 Has a Name and a Release Window

We won't have to refer to the next Guilty Gear game with confusing wordplay or parentheticals anymore. Arc System Works announced last night that the next Guilty Gear will be called Guilty Gear Strive, and it's coming in late 2020.

Revealed in a trailer at last night's ArcRevo finals, an annual world championship held for Arc System Works' various fighting games, the "IV" in Strive is highlighted. This could be in reference to it being a "fourth" major installment. While there have been many versions of Guilty Gear, there have been a handful of main games, much like Street Fighter, including X, XX, and Xrd.

The trailer ends with a stinger for Faust, the series' mad-as-a-hatter doctor who seems to have an even looser grip on his serial killer side. (Seriously, read up on the Guilty Gear lore, it's good stuff.) We still haven't seen any new characters outside the robo-samurai from some of Strive's earliest trailers, but considering how interesting all the returning fighters already look, I'm down for some reimaginings and new evolutions.

Arc System Works confirmed its next event would be Frosty Faustings in January of next year, likely taking the time over the holiday season to tune up the demo they've been showing. During ArcRevo, the longtime fighting game developer was surveying players for their thoughts after playing the demo-Arc System Works has said that this new Guilty Gear will be a complete reconstruction of the series, and some changes are already eliciting some criticism.

We'll see what changes and what doesn't, as the game still has a pretty long lead-up to go before its launch window of "late 2020." We'll definitely be seeing Granblue Fantasy Versus before then, as Arc System Works confirmed it would be one of two titles on its 2020 ArcRevo World Tour circuit. Meanwhile, I'll leave you with the crowd singing along to Guilty Gear Strive's admittedly catchy theme "The Smell of the Game" during the Strive trailer reveal.

That is bullshit, blazing.