Virtua Fighter Crossroads producer drew inspiration from HBO's Watchmen series

Ryu Ga Gotoku producer Riichiro Yamada has revealed that HBO's Watchmen series was his biggest creative inspiration for Virtua Fighter Crossroads — not because of its story, but because of how it brought a decades-old comic back into the mainstream.

Speaking with GamerBraves, Yamada drew a direct parallel between the two properties. Virtua Fighter has been dormant for over 20 years, and Watchmen — originally a comic from the 1980s — was successfully revived as a prestige TV drama more than 40 years after its debut. That revival showed him how to modernize old settings and lore without abandoning them. Crossroads will feature a narrative-driven story mode built by a team of industry veterans, and Yamada says RGG deliberately stepped away from its usual storytelling approach to give the game a more immersive, player-driven narrative. He was clear that he doesn't want the story told through cutscenes alone — he wants players to experience and understand it through actual gameplay. The game is set 10 to 20 years after Virtua Fighter 5, with the classic characters making a "comeback" after being "almost forgotten" within the game's own universe.

Virtua Fighter has been one of the most influential fighting game franchises in history — it predates Tekken and was the first 3D fighting game to hit arcades, back in 1993. Despite that legacy, the series has been largely absent since Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown in 2012, making Crossroads one of the most anticipated fighting game revivals in years. RGG Studio, best known for the Yakuza and Like a Dragon series, took over development, which already signals a heavier emphasis on story and character than the franchise has traditionally had.

Virtua Fighter Crossroads is targeting a 2027 release, though no specific date has been announced yet. With the story framing and creative direction now clearer, the fighting game community will be watching closely to see how RGG balances the series' competitive legacy with its new narrative ambitions.