Dead or Alive Returns to Arcades with Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate

The Dead or Alive series is about to make its return home to the Japanese arcade scene with the upcoming Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate: Arcade. This is the first game from the series to see an arcade release since Dead or Alive 2 in 2000.

Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate is not only seeing an arcade release but is also making its way to Japanese PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles later this year. A free-to-play version will be simultaneously released on the PlayStation 3.

Fans of the series hoping for DoA to see some high level competitive play may be in for a surprise over the next year, if this release gets some good footing in Japan.

It’s (almost) never too late for a classic fighting IP to come back into the competitive scene. An arcade release is a must for a game to be picked up by the Japanese fighting community because of the emphasis on arcade over home console gaming in the region.

It’s been a long time since Dead or Alive 2 on Sega’s arcade Naomi hardware.  Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate: Arcade will be seeing its release this winter. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 releases of DoA5 Ultimate are slated for a September 5 release in Japan.