With new Dead or Alive and Virtua Fighter projects in the works, there’s just one thing missing before we have a full 3D fighting game renaissance

Earlier in February, PlayStation’s State of Play presentation featured one announcement that caught me completely off guard.

Dead or Alive series producer Yosuke Hayashi made an appearance to confirm the beloved 3D fighting game franchise will be returning soon. And, just like that, a franchise thought to be left on ice since 2019’s divisive Dead or Alive 6 was thrust back into conversation.

The return starts on June 25, 2026, with the release of Dead or Alive 6 Last Round, a largely content-complete port of the game that’ll continue to be updated with new characters and costumes. There are some concerns around this re-release, though, as crossplay has been officially ruled out and it seems like the game will continue to use outdated delay-based netcode for online matches. Jury's out on this one for now.