Speaking to Eurogamer, producer of the new Virtua Fighter project Riichiro Yamada revealed that there’s an extraordinary level of excitement around the upcoming 3D fighting game at Sega, especially among the company’s older generation.
When asked about the internal mood regarding Virtua Fighter’s revival, Yamada stated (through a Sega-provided translator): “In Sega, the upper executives are very fond of Virtua Fighter, they feel it’s very special to them because it has a very long history with Sega.”
This extends to the chairman of Sega Sammy, Hajime Satomi. According to Yamada, he’s taken special interest in the project: “He is also very fond of Virtua Fighter. He’s very high up in the company and a very important guy, so even though he participates in so many meetings he doesn’t really say anything. But when it comes to Virtua Fighter meetings he actually gives detailed comments because he’s very fond of the series.”
This excitement, according to Yamada, has trickled down to even the younger folks at the company that are unfamiliar with Virtua Fighter: “There are a lot of people in upper management who are really looking forward to this. Thanks to this hype from the upper management people, the younger generation who may not have touched or been handling Virtua Fighter before, a lot of them are very interested in being involved with the new project. [I] feel with Sega’s history, Virtua Fighter holds a very special place in every [developer].”