It’s happening: Gundam Versus is officially coming to North America and Europe. When Bandai Namco originally announced the PlayStation 4 game at the 2016 Tokyo Game Show, it was listed for release only for Japan and parts of Asia. Even when I reported earlier in April that the game was being given an official release date of July 6th, 2017, Bandai Namco still had no stated intentions of bringing the title to North America. You can read that original article here.
Fortunately for PlayStation 4 owning Mobile Suit Gundam fans, April 27th was a day of reckoning, and Gundam Versus was confirmed to be coming to North America and Europe in the fall of 2017. Both the official North American Bandai Namco website and YouTube channel announced the game’s upcoming release along with a great number of details about what to expect in this latest chapter of the Gundam Extreme Vs. gaming franchise.
Image Source: Bandai Namco Official Website
Gundam Versus is a hybrid action/fighting title that pits two teams of two mobile suits against each other, in an open, three-dimensional battlefield. Over 90 different units, representing 17 different Gundam anime series/movies will be available for players to choose from. Also, in a first for the Extreme Vs franchise, six player matches will be available, upping the team battle count to three on three. The game play trailer also displays a six player mode called “Boss Hunter” which appears to pit all six players against a single, giant mech unit.
Still from Gundam Versus Gameplay Trailer
This is fantastic news for Gundam fans, there are millions of people outside of Japan who deserve to be able to enjoy this gaming experience. As mentioned in my previous article, despite the popularity of the Extreme Vs series in Japan, none of the main games had received a North American release. The only one that made it stateside was the lackluster PlayStation Vita spin-off, Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs Force. Let’s hope that Gundam Versus turns out to be as strong of a title as the gameplay footage makes it out to be and ushers in a new age of English language releases for the long storied franchise.
Sources:
Official Bandai Namco Website
Official Bandai Namco YouTube Channel
