All Characters Playable for Free Online; Founder's Pack Granted to Previous Owners
EMERYVILLE, Calif. – April X, 2020 – Fantasy Strike, the fighting game from Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix lead designer David Sirlin, goes free-to-play for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Steam for Windows PC, Mac, and Linux on April X, 2020. This update also includes two new characters, a new optional set of subscription features, and cosmetic items and animations for the entire roster.
A first for free-to-play fighting games, Fantasy Strike will now allow players to play ALL characters for free online immediately with no grind-to-unlock. This includes the two new characters, Sirus Quince and General Onimaru, who each add new mechanics to the game. Quince deploys illusions to confuse his opponents and can make these illusions “real” for a limited time by landing his super. Meanwhile, Onimaru uses deliberate, powerful sword strikes that can become unblockable in the right situation.
All Fantasy Strike players can play online in casual and ranked modes and watch the action in spectator mode. Practice mode, solo matches vs. AI opponents, and the daily challenges are also all available for free. Those looking for more can find it in The Core Pack, which provides access to local Versus mode, online matches against friends, Boss Rush mode, Survival mode, and an Arcade mode with beautifully-illustrated narrative sequences. Those looking for a lot more can buy the Collector’s Pack, featuring everything in the Core Pack plus a lot of cosmetics, an exclusive “Party Time” KO effect, and one year of the new Fantasy+ subscription.
Fantasy+ is a new optional subscription that grants access to special Master Costumes for each character who reaches experience level 20, doubles XP gains, and introduces an extensive new Replay Theater feature. With this, players can watch replays of their own matches, search for replays containing any specific characters and skill levels they want, and watch and endless stream of replays in the new Ranked TV and Friend TV channels. Players can adjust the playback speed of replays, scrub though them as they would a video, and even frame step through them for deep analysis.
“We worked tirelessly to find a way to maintain the competitive integrity of Fantasy Strike that our existing players love while opening it up to an even broader audience,” said David Sirlin, game director, Fantasy Strike. “We believe this free-to-play update continues our mission of crafting a fighting game that removes the barrier to being a contender, while also providing excellent value for those who want additional features and to support our work."
Fantasy Strike provides a friendly meeting ground for newcomers and veterans to learn and enjoy hardcore fighting games. Designed to teach and demystify, Fantasy Strike shows players its systems clearly with in-depth video tutorials and innovative frame advantage visual effects. These helpful features are married with other amenities like one-click friend challenges and spectating, built-on-the-fly tournaments, cross-platform play support between all systems, latency-combating GGPO technology, and more.
The update featuring new characters, free-to-play features, and cosmetic items is available today on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Steam for Windows PC, Mac, and Linux. Previous owners automatically receive access to the Founder's Pack, which includes everything in the Core Pack plus 60 costume color sets (over $100 value if bought separately). The Core Pack is priced at $19.99, while the Collector’s Pack will be available for $99.99. A Fantasy+ subscription can be purchased in 1-month, 6-month, and 12-month increments in-game with gems (approximate value of $4.99, $24.99, and $39.99, respectively).
To learn more about Fantasy Strike, visit the official website and follow the game on Twitter.
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About Sirlin Games
David Sirlin, lead designer of Street Fighter HD Remix, author of Playing to Win and a former pro fighting game player, helms Sirlin Games, an independent video game developer based in Emeryville, California that specializes in competitive multiplayer games.