Dead or Alive 5 sold pretty well and Team Ninja leader Yosuke Hayashi has a bold idea to further increase the fanbase. Tecmo Koei will release a Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate base pack as a free download for PlayStation 3.

Speaking with Famitsu, Hayashi says he wants to get many more people wrapped up in the fighting games by letting them see how fun the genre is. When Street Fighter and Viruta Fighter were popular there was a fighting game boom. Those were the golden days and Hayashi thinks he can make a boom happen again, but it’s necessary to get more people involved. That’s why they’re going to release part of Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate for free. Now fighting game novices can practice on their own and get a feel for the genre and there will be a wider range of people playing online.

Kasumi, Ayane, Hayate, and Ryu Hayabusa will be playable in the freemium version of Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate. All characters including newcomers to Ultimate like Momiji can appear as opponents. You can select all of the stages too. Tecmo Koei will also have trial periods with other characters so you might be able to play as Tina for a week and if you like her you can purchase Tina separately.

Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate base pack is enabled for online play. You won’t know if the other player is using the base pack or the retail version of the game. The detailed tutorial mode from Dead or Alive 5+ and training mode are included in the base pack too so you can master the four free characters. Story mode, however, is locked and there is a fee you need to pay to unlock it. Otherwise the four freemium characters work just like they would in the retail version. There is no "gatcha" (like collecting different items for a full set) or stamina that limits the number of plays like Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation. You can play the Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate base pack as much as you want.

Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate base pack will be released for PlayStation 3. Tecmo Koei is talking to Microsoft to see if they can release it for Xbox 360 too.