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Guilty Gear Strive closed beta set for April 2020, sign-ups open

Arc System Works' latest beautiful upcoming fighter is getting a closed beta in April and sign-ups are open if you want a chance to throw down.

TJ Denzer

March 19, 2020 7:44 AM

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The hopes are high for Guilty Gear Strive. As with nearly every Guilty Gear game, Arc System Works is pushing and stretching the boundary on what their fighting games can do with Strive. The game has been available for limited playable time at various FGC events, but soon, more players will be able to get a taste of the action. A Guilty Gear Strive closed beta has been announced for April and sign-ups are open now.

Arc System Works announced the closed beta for Guilty Gear Strive in a press release and opened sign-ups on March 18, 2020. From March 18 to April 5, PlayStation 4 players will be able to sign up for a chance to play in the closed beta testing session. One applications are in, players will be notified on April 12 if they have been accepted and the closed beta session will run from April 16 to April 19, 2020. Online Match play and Vs COM will be the functions available in the beta and available characters will include Sol, Ky, Chipp, Axl Potemkin, May, and Faust. An online connection will be required, although a PlayStation Plus subscription will not.

With every trailer for Guilty Gear Strive, up to including a recent one that introduced Faust and officially named the game, Arc System Works has been bringing its usual level of polish to the animations and mechanics its series is known for. At the same time, Guilty Gear Strive defies expectations in a lot of ways. Daisuke Ishiwatari has mentioned in interviews on the likes of Gearnuke that the goal was to build a completely new fighter from the ground up and make everyone feel like a newcomer coming in.

That definitely sounds right as Strive does a lot of things differently from its predecessors, including less emphasis on combos and stage transitions that allow players to knock each other through different areas. Put it all together and Guilty Gear Strive has landed easily as one of our most anticipated games of 2020 here at Shacknews.

There’s still no finalized launch date on Guilty Gear Strive as of yet, outside of knowing it’s supposed to launch on the 2020 video game calendar. Stay tuned for further information and get in on sign-ups for the closed beta if you want to get a teaser of what’s to come on April 16.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on BlueSky @JohnnyChugs.