We've speculated and speculated some more about whether or not a new Virtua Fighter was in the works, and now we've got more fuel to add to the speculative fire! Siliconera recently reported that SEGA had filed to renew the existing trademark for Virtua Fighter, along with a new trademark for a title called 'Battle Genesis'. What could this mean?



Some of you may recall that the original Virtua Fighter trademark, filed in 1993, was actually renewed in 2016 (and yes, we speculated on that too!), but this new filing warrants a closer look.

Interestingly, the renewal of the Virtua Fighter trademark was done under a broader Goods and Services scope which now includes things like:

• slot machines
• casino gaming machines
• toy vehicles
• dolls
• stuffed toys
• toy action figures
• trading card games
• playing cards

Of course, it still includes the likes of coin-op and arcade game machines, but this new filing is certainly interesting! You can view the trademark registration records on trademarkia via the following links:

• Virtua Fighter, filed on 2 October 2018 (NEW)
• Virtua Fighter, filed on 20 December 1993

Was this just a routine trademark renewal/refresh to keep the IP in its existing form alive? Or is something else afoot? What do you think?

Spoiler: SEGA Europe

Or does SEGA Europe have the inside scoop?