Today Koei Tecmo made a surprise announcement related to Dead Or Alive 5: Last Round, and no, it’s not more DLC.
The publisher revealed that the game is going to make an appearance at EVO 2018 with its own side tournament titled Dead or Alive EVO Showdown 2018.
To celebrate the occasion, the press release included a message directly from Prodicer Yosuke Hayashi and Director Yohei Shimbori.
“To the DEAD OR ALIVE fans and fighting game fans, thanks to you all we are proudly announcing that DOA5 Last Round will take part in the world’s largest fighting game festival EVO.
5 years have passed since the DOA5 series started and it’s been played by more than 10 million gamers. Meanwhile, the DOA community has expanded to become larger than ever before.
To proceed to the next stage, we announced the end of the DOA5 series in December, but to my surprise the gods of fighting games have given us another chance to let players enjoy this franchise at an event once more.
Though it’s a side tournament, the fact that DOA is joining EVO itself is key, and something which we have been longing for over 10 years.
So, I hope you will join and enjoy the show!”
On top of the tournament, Koei Tecmo promised exclusive merchandise that will be available only at EVO 2018, even if no details have been disclosed about this.
Dead or Alive 5: Last Round was originally released in 2012, followed by Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate in 2013, and Dead or Alive 5 Last Roundin 2015. Koei Tecmo released the last of the many, many DLC packages for the game in December 2017. Yet, the long-lived fighting game is still kicking in the hearts of many.