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.

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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.

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 Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 19, 2020 7:44 AM

    TJ Denzer posted a new article, Guilty Gear Strive closed beta set for April 2020, sign-ups open

    • reply
      March 19, 2020 8:03 AM

      Best looking fighter out there. Also most impossible to learn.

      After buying 3 guilty gear games, I'm just gonna pass. I will never get good at this series no matter how much I like it.

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        March 19, 2020 8:30 AM

        I'm not good, but they are still fun to play. I still have as much fun or more playing Rev2 than any other fighter released since.
        They usually have numerous helpful tutorials that explain all the systems and mechanics, but you still don't need to learn everything up front to have a good time. I still forget about stuff dead angle and blitz, but you don't need to utilize that stuff to play.

        This one it seems like they're streamlining a various things and trying to make it more accessible, so if there were a Guilty Gear game to actually get into and learn, it would probably be this one.

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          March 19, 2020 8:32 AM

          It might be my region (Japan), but I just get annihilated online. I've never been good at fighters even though I like GG. It's a shame really.

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            March 19, 2020 8:38 AM

            bcyde just mentioned they're developing rollback for this one, so you should hopefully be able to find decent matches outside your immediate region if it's decent. And if it's good, you may even be able to play with some in the US.

            Although it looks like the beta is still using delay!

            Although the current beta test build is using a similar delay-based netcode from previous titles, a rollback-based netcode is currently in development for the final product of the game.

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              March 19, 2020 9:05 AM

              Both correct. Rollback is on the way (but won't be ready for beta), and this particular Guilty Gear has been built from the ground up to invite newcomers in. The recent Arc System Works games (BBTag and Granblue Fantasy Versus) have followed an evolving model of accessibility. I very much expect Strive will continue that evolution as Daisuke Ishiwatari has stressed that making it accessible is one of his major priorities.

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