Once again set in the late 18th century, after the events of Samurai Shodown V and prior to the events of the original game, Samurai Shodown will see the return of thirteen classic characters, including Haohmaru, Earthquake and Galford, who will be joined by three brand new characters to the series.

Developed in-house at SNK by the same team that brought us King of Fighters XIV, Samurai Shodown features a host of modes, such as Story, Practice, Online Battle and multiple offline battle modes. The new game will also debut an innovative new asynchronous online mode called “Dojo” that uses deep machine learning to create a CPU-avatar that learns from players’ actions during offline modes and creates a Ghost AI character. Players will be able to upload their Ghost to the leaderboards and also download Ghost data from other players. Players can take on Ghosts in 1v1 battle, or take on the Ironman Challenge and attempt to take down up to 100 ghosts in one go.

Additional characters will also be available via post-launch DLC.

SNK and Athlon Games are also proud to announce that players who pre-order or buy the game on PSN, Xbox Live or any physical retailer will be able to download the Season Pass absolutely free through the PlayStation Store or Xbox Live up until June 30th. Regional restrictions may apply.

“We’re extremely excited to finally confirm that June 25th will see the much anticipated return of Samurai Shodown - one of the founding figures of the fighting genre,” said Koichi Toyama, Company President at SNK. “As a thank you to the fans who have stuck with us during the long wait between the franchise installments, we’re pleased to offer the first 6 months of DLC completely free of charge to anyone who buys the game and redeems the game's season pass within the first week of release, which will include four new fighters."

As fighters continue to play and level up their skills, the game is watching, learning, calculating and mapping its user’s playstyle in the offline battle modes in order to create an online “ghost” that replicates that style in Dojo Mode. Players can take on their own AI-derived avatar for better insight into their own weaknesses, or download the ghost of a favorite player from the cloud for a fresh challenge. These intelligent AI ghosts promise to change the way fighting game aficionados train and compete forever.

"Dojo Mode has been a franchise aspiration for the team for some time now and an evolution to the fighting genre that we’re very proud of,” said SNK Lead Producer, Yasuyuki Oda. “Not only will it give players the opportunity to play against the ghosts of some of the best Samurai Shodown players in the world, but playing against your own ghost will prove an amazing tool to learn more about your own playstyle.”

Samurai Shodown is available for pre-order now through Playstation Store or Microsoft Store.

Key Features:

• Exhilarating Weapons-Based Combat – Samurai Shodown carries on the legacy of the tense battles the series is known for, where players are always one strike away from death, and one powerful attack away from victory.
• Evolving the Presentation – Using the power of Unreal Engine 4, SNK is able to modernize the unique atmosphere and setting of past titles in a gorgeously artistic package that achieves a detail and graphical quality like never before.
• Unique Cast of Returning and New Warriors – Samurai Shodown welcomes back iconic characters from past iterations, including the swordsman Haohmaru, his rivals Ukyo and Genjuro, the shrine maiden Nakoruru, and fan-favorite Galford. The starting roster will include a total of 16 characters - 13 veterans and three newcomers to the franchise.
• All New Gameplay – Carrying on some of the key fighting mechanics that made the series popular, such as the Rage Gauge, Rage Explosion, Sword Clash and more, Samurai Shodown will also include several new techniques, including a powerful, one-time use attack from each character called the Super Special Move.
• Revolutionary New AI System – Titled Dojo Mode, SNK has developed a proprietary AI system that learns from player patterns and creates a specific Ghost clone from that data. With this system, players can fight against their own Ghost or take on the Ghosts of top players in mock battles.

The public will be able to play Samurai Shodown for the first time on the show floor at PAX East in Boston, March 28 - March 31. PAX East attendees can also attend the Samurai Shodown - Resurrecting a Legend panel, Saturday, March 30 from 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. EDT. The panel will be moderated by Team Spooky’s Giby and feature SNK’s Yasuyuki Oda (Producer), Nobuyuki Kuroki (Game Director) and the Director of the original Samurai Shodown, Yasushi Adachi, as well as several others from SNK.

Samurai Shodown will launch in the Americas and Europe on PS4 and Xbox One on June 25th, 2019 for $59.99. Samurai Shodown will be available on Nintendo Switch in Q4 2019 and PC at a later date.