Dead Or Alive: What Day The 25th Anniversary Actually Is

The 25th anniversary of the Dead or Alive franchise is fast-approaching, and it will be one of the last big video game anniversaries of 2021. Dead or Alive might seem like it only exists for fanservice, but the fighting games in the series are known for their highly technical combat systems, which are built around counters and swift responses to enemy actions.

The Dead or Alive franchise came about when characters like Lara Croft from Tomb Raider were turned into cyber celebrities, as the protagonists of the games had more character and presence than ever before. The creators of Dead or Alive leaned into this, though the Dead or Alive series was still highly regarded by fighting game fans for its systems and innovations. The Dead or Alive Xtreme side series eventually came along as well, taking the characters to entirely new settings without any of the original gameplay.

Dead or Alive debuted in the arcades back in 1996, with a Sega Saturn version launching in ’97, and a PlayStation port arriving in ’98. The 25th anniversary of the series will take place on November 26, 2021. Microsoft has already kicked off the celebrations early, by adding over 70 games to Xbox’s backward compatibility list. The list includes Dead or Alive 3, 4, and Ultimate, which can now be played on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

How Koei Tecmo Could Celebrate Dead Or Alive’s Anniversary

Dead or Alive series developer Team Ninja and series publisher Koei Tecmo have been quiet about the 25th anniversary of the series. Dead or Alive 6 was released in 2019, so it might be too soon for a new entry in the mainline series. One possibility is that an Ultimate edition of Dead or Alive 6 could be on the cards, with all of the DLC included. This might annoy the fans of the game who have been supporting it since launch, as the value of Dead or Alive 6‘s DLC is more than the base game, but it would at least give a good pretense for releasing the game at full price again.

It’s also possible that the Dead or Alive Xtreme series could leave Japan. The last international entry in the series was Dead or Alive Paradise on the PSP. Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 and its updated Scarlet version have never been released outside of Asia, due to their sexualized content. It’s possible that Team Ninja might surprise the fans and launch the games on modern systems in Europe and North America. It just depends on whether platform holders would want the game. Steam has all kinds of raunchy games, and Nintendo has loosened up a great deal regarding its content guidelines, but Sony has curbed excessive fanservice in its games, and the lack of PlayStation ports could keep the series in Japan.

The 25th anniversary of the Dead or Alive series will take place on November 26, 2021.

About The Author

Scott Baird
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Scott has been writing for Screen Rant since 2016 and regularly contributes to The Gamer. He has previously written articles and video scripts for websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, and TopTenz.
A graduate of Edge Hill University in the UK, Scott started out as a film student before moving into journalism. It turned out that wasting a childhood playing video games, reading comic books, and watching movies could be used for finding employment, regardless of what any career advisor might tell you. Scott specializes in gaming and has loved the medium since the early ‘90s when his first console was a ZX Spectrum that used to take 40 minutes to load a game from a tape cassette player to a black and white TV set. Scott now writes game reviews for Screen Rant and The Gamer, as well as news reports, opinion pieces, and game guides. He can be contacted on LinkedIn.

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