the Guilty Gear Strike crossplay beta test has been revealed during a panel at EVO 2022 and given a firmer release date window of mid-September 2022. The crossplay beta for the game between PS5, PS4, and Steam was originally announced during a livestream at ARCEVO 2021, but no confirmation on a potential date was provided at the time, apart from it arriving in Season 2.
The Guilty Gear Strive Season 2 roadmap for 2022-2023
The Guilty Gear Strive crossplay beta is front and center for the game’s current schedule for the rest of 2022. The panelists from Arc System Works didn’t have too much information to provide on the upcoming test, but they mentioned that the official website will have details soon. If the beta goes well, the developers hope to see crossplay across the three platforms pushed immediately into the game.
In preparation for the beta test, Arc System Works plans to reduce input delay for the PS5 version of the game, with the panelists hoping that it matches the same input delay as the PS4 Pro version. In addition, on Steam the developer wants to reduce the connection time for the initial server connections. Across Summer and Fall 2022, two new characters will also be revealed, with a Battle Balance Patch arriving in Winter 2022. Beyond that, two additional characters and two new stages are planned in 2023.
While Multiversus is taking the fighting genre by storm in recent months, Guilty Gear Strive is currently the premier tournament at EVO 2022. The current number of entrants for it is 2,161 players, compared to the only 1,320 entrants for Street Fighter V and 1,220 entrants for Tekken 7. We’ll have to see how long it can stay at the top, though, with Multiversus and Street Fighter 6 likely making an appearance at EVO 2023.
In other news, the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Family Sharing program has entered beta testing in limited markets, and the Nintendo Switch OLED Splatoon 3 Edition is the only new console this year.