Guilty Gear Strive's first Season 2 DLC character scheduled for summer 2022 launch, content road map released
Fans have been waiting for news on Season 2 of Guilty Gear Strive for some time now, and today during Arc System Works' special Evo 2022 panel, new details were finally divulged.
At the Past, Present, and Future of the Guilty Gear Series presentation, the development team shared a content road map for Season 2 to let fans know what to expect and when. We learned that the first S2 DLC character is scheduled for release sometime in Summer 2022, that there will be four new DLC fighters in total, a new balance patch is in the works, and more.
The developers explained that the schedule shown during the Evo presentation is a tentative schedule. Specific time frames and dates are subject to change, but we should be seeing everything listed on the road map make it into the game eventually.
Strive's next wave of DLC is seeing its release as soon as this summer, which should have fans pretty excited. New character #6 is slated to be added to the game, and we will also see additional character colors thrown into the mix.
On top of that, the summer will bring a reduction of the input delay on PlayStation 5. The platform has struggled with heavier input lag than the other consoles, and it was revealed that this update will aim to bring it down and in line with the PlayStation 4 Pro.
The Steam version of Strive is also expected to see a reduction in the time it takes to connect to the servers on start up. This window of time is clearly putting a focus on some of the quality of life issues that have been bothering fans for a while now.
When fall rolls around, fans can expect to see a beta test for crossplay. This will allow users to test the feature that will grant those on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Steam the ability to match up and play against each other.
This beta test is scheduled for mid-September and will be a global test, meaning competitors around the world will be able to join in. More information on how to get involved in the crossplay beta test will be revealed at a later time.
Following the beta, but still in the fall, fans should be seeing the actual crossplay feature update go live. New character #7 is also expected in this window of time, but they will be released separately and after the Crossplay Update.
When winter rolls around so will a balance changes patch. No concrete details on this update were given, but right now this balance update is the last expected content for 2022 — though that can still change given this schedule is tentative.
In 2023, Guilty Gear Strive is aiming to see the release of new character #8 and new character #9. Also scheduled are the addition of two new stages, though no specific window of time was given for any of this content.
From the map, it does look like new character #8 and additional stage #3 will be released alongside one another, and the same goes for new character #9 and additional stage #4.
None of the actual DLC character identities were unveiled during the panel, but there is a good chance we'll see more on that front on Evo finals day as Guilty Gear Strive is closing out the entire show.
You can view the Season 2 road map below.
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