The next step in the evolution of Street Fighter V is almost here!

After being announced back in September at the Tokyo Game Show and following location tests in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and Fukuoka, Street Fighter V: Type Arcade — the physical arcade port of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, running on Taitio’s Viewlix cabinets and utilizing the NESICAxLive System — will finally be released for Japanese arcades on Thursday, March 14th.

In addition to some HUD changes that see player names, titles, and rankings found above the health bar (as opposed to below, on console), the most notable difference is the implementation of a new Ranking System, exclusive to the port. Instead of utilizing the League Point system that can be currently found on the home versions, Type Arcade will make use of both Battle Points and Player Points, which should allow a user’s individual progress, tracked by a NESICA card. The official announcement trailer is below.

With Final Round 2019 also around the corner, could we see Capcom finally break their silence and unveil some new Season 4 characters to coincide with this new release? Back in the Street Fighter IV cycle we saw Yun and Yang join the SFIV cast alongside the release of Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition — and Evil Ryu and Oni further bolstered the roster as time-release characters — so there’s certainly a precedent in place for Capcom to potentially have surprises to roll out for console/PC alongside the arcade version. In the meantime, you can visit the official Street Fighter V: Type Arcade website for more information.

Sources: taitochannel (YouTube); Taito [Street Fighter V: Type Arcade]