BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle's Platforms Announced: PS4, Switch and PC; New Characters Revealed

Today Arc System Works finally revealed the previously mysterious platforms of the upcoming crossover fighting game BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle.

[FallenAngel1984]

It's about time they showed the platforms

[Adnanilyas21]

Wow it's coming to Switch, more 3rd party support brilliant

[tehpees3]

They already said the day of the presentation in January both Blazblue and Tales are getting on Switch. We now know what Blazblue. We just don't know what Tales.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Yep; I kept pointing this out and kept getting downvoted for it whenever I did.XD
I'm seriously looking forward to that Tales game.
Fighting games aren't as big a thing for me because my memory is horrible, so figuring out and remembering all the possible combos just for one character is a lot of work for me.
Still love games as flashy as BlazBlue, though. The characters are unique and their backstories are either interesting or make me laugh, so it's well worth owning almost any entry in it, or in Guilty Gear.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

@Kiku
I play Smash 4 quite often and have been with the series since day 1 of the N64 release, but thanks for the kind thought regardless.XD

[Skuletor]

This gives me hope Dragon Ball FighterZ will get a Switch release too, they probably just haven't announced it yet so they can sell more copies of Xenoverse 2 first

[PhoenixUp]

Xbox One got left out, what a surprise

[Dlaw76]

Hey put your hate aside for a minute can someone please explain why most Japanese 3rd party publishers don't release their games on the Xbox only non haters respond

[mikel1015]

Xbox as a brand for many years have unfortunately never really built up an audience in Japan. Sony and Nintendo have established themselves throughout many generations there since they are both Japanese companies, while Microsoft hasn't been able to get a foothold. So for games that greatly focus on niche genres or IPs, they tend to focus on the platforms who are more known to buy Japanese games which aren't already established in the US/UK like Dragon Ball Z

[Dlaw76]

I'm talking about inside the Americas and the UK I'm sure they can get some sales in those places

[mikel1015]

That's the thing, the fanbases in any country (including US/UK) which collect on Nintendo and Sony are more likely to purchase those games the companies who don't port to Xbox are making. Xbox isn't known to hold fanbases for lesser known Anime IPs, JRPGs, and nicher Japanese games like this game because they have not curated or proven to those fanbases that Xbox will have a valuable library for them. This causes a lack of a fanbase for these types of games, which makes companies not see the value in porting these games because there's no fanbase to sell it to. Thus the cycle happens. Little fanbase, lesser amount of games, which leads to smaller fanbase in any region, including US/UK. Does that make sense?

[TheColbertinator]

Microsoft's marketing has been mainly focused on racing,shooting and sports games. As such gamers who typically prefer Xbox don't pay much attention to Japanese developed games apart from the occasional Final fantasy or Resident Evil.

Yes they can get some sales but localization,audio editing and developing for a console that is highly unpopular in the home Japanese market sees a low turnaround regardless of what decent sales bring in.

Despite Switch having much less units sold than both Xbox 1 or PS4,Nintendo has a good fanbase established that buy japanese games in both Japan and the west. Not to mention that Nintendo gamers dont typically refuse to try japanese games and call it "weaboo" or "otaku trash" unlike some Xbox fanboys I've met.

[kevnb]

Even final fantasy and resident evil aren’t that big on Xbox, Microsoft most likely pays those publishers.

[DarXyde]

Dlaw76,

I can't really speak for all Japanese developers, but in the case of Arc System Works, they're a pretty small company. Their games appeal to a very specific community, mostly gamers who love fighters. On top of that, this game is...pretty Japanese. It's bringing in Blazblue, Persona, and RWBY. Blazblue and Persona 4 Arena were also available on Xbox but they are consistently outsold by considerable margins by their PlayStation counterparts.

I think it's a matter of resources and appeal, honestly. I believe their annual revenue comes out to something like $6 million USD, which really isn't much. Sure, they also have some backing from Atlus/SEGA for this project, but perhaps they've taken losses in the past by spreading themselves thin. It's a team of 120+ people, after all. Why they went with Nintendo over Xbox is probably because these games have a great community in Japan. That, and Japan loves portability, so playing on the go is probably a huge factor here. As for PlayStation, that controller was practically birthed for 2D fighters. It's great. As for PC, it has developed a very sizable Japanese games market. ASW did release Melty Blood last year exclusively for PC and many of the niche Japanese titles find their way onto Steam.

Xbox, I believe, just doesn't fit as well into the equation as the others. Two Japanese consoles that Japanese gamers are sure to buy and PC which has a great community that is invested in Japanese games. Sadly, I would argue that Xbox has become even less invested in these types of games. X360 had games like Lost Odyssey (which was a masterpiece if you ask me), Blue Dragon, and timed exclusivity of Tales of Vesperia. Nothing really like that on Xbox One. On top of that, Tales of Vesperia was the last Tales game to make it to Xbox. I just think that, as a platform, there just isn't enough interest to warrant making it for it.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Just look at it this way D law, if Microsoft isn't making Japanese games or Japanese studios to cater to the Japanese gaming population, why should Japanese developers cater to Microsoft's gaming system?

Sony and Nintendo cater to all cultures and created a fan base. Microsoft dabbled in it last gen by supporting the Japanese Xbox, then dropped it. And are just porting games from America. If I was a Japanese developer, why spend time, money and effort supporting Xbox abroad when Microsoft aren't supporting themselves abroad?

You say the developers can get some sales outside Japan. That would be the same for Microsoft getting sales in Japan by supporting their own system with Japanese games and not just force feed american games.

[kevnb]

Because they won’t make money.

[Dlaw76]

How do you know that just asking

[Rachel_Alucard]

@Dlaw

The cost of making a port in this age is just not worth the forecasted financial gain these companies stand to gain. The JP Xbox market is nonexistant and thats where their primary focus is when developing games like this. Nothings changed since PS2 days.

[jznrpg]

Because they don't sell enough copies and isn't worth the time and money

[TheColbertinator]

Here is some reading material. Connect the dots
https://www.dualshockers.co...

https://www.dualshockers.co...

https://www.forbes.com/site...

[Liqu1d]

Not enough Xbox gamers buy those games so it's a waste of resources.

[Dlaw76]

I'm sure you sleep good at night knowing those games aren't coming to the Xbox

[Liqu1d]

Of course I do. /s

I don't care if they release on Xbox. Why bother asking why Xbox doesn't get these games if you're just going to get upset at the truth?

[Rachel_Alucard]

@Dlaw

That's why you get a PC and a console to avoid these situations rather then get butthurt at the truth online.

[MazeRunner]

glad to see the switch getting the game, dissapointed arc system keeps ignoring xbox

[ZaWarudo]

My boy Hazama!

[DarXyde]

I used to be all about Hazama and Valkenhayne.

Now, I'm hoping we get some Terumi action.

[DigitalCentralMedia]

Terumi would be pretty awesome. Imagine Terumi, Adachi, and Hazama all in the same game?

[DarXyde]

DigitalCentralMedia,

How DARE you get my hopes up!

Same game = possibility for same TEAM. God almighty...

[Greedsin]

Well, since there's no Xbox One version I guess i'll just grab it on PC then.

Still tho, game looks great and god damn it was a nice surprise to see the RWBY series get added .

[Cyro]

Well now I need to think about what platform to buy it on.

[jznrpg]

Im skeptical of Switch's online abilities i will get it on ps4 most likely

[tehpees3]

I honestly think SAO, Attack on Titan and FighterZ are just on Xbox because Phil is trying to lure overseas anime fans in some daft hope that they can drop their "dudebro shooter sports" image.

[DivineAssault]

Looks great but wheres the persona 5 characters?

[Gemmol]

Switch keep getting more games, pray 🙏🏿 for our wallets

[kevnb]

Xbox losing support like crazy, so worried about their astroturfing and paid articles about the one x while publishers are skipping their platform altogether.

[tulholdren]

PS4 version for me looking like it going to have a cool roster too.

[CoDsuperstar]

no xbox? HAHA