During Evo 2025, ArcSys announced that Guilty Gear Strive is getting a 2.0 update. This could just be an update, or perhaps a title update (new game) like Revelator, Rev2, or the many versions of XX. I will be assuming the size will be roughly the same as the title updates, as that is more interesting to speculate on.

This is just going to be me throwing basically every idea I have at the wall. I want to analyze how likely each of these things are, and in what way they could be implemented.

Likelihood is a rating out of 5 on how likely I think something is to happen.

Previous Appearances lists what previous versions or title updates have featured this. Obviously, this means that it will not count fully new games like Guity Gear XX or Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign- except in situations describing old mechanics that could return.

We already know that both Jam and Robo-Ky are coming, but I think it is fairly reasonable to expect at least one or two more characters. I would personally expect these to be completely new characters. One being an old character given their first playable appearance, and another being a brand new character to this version.

My assumption for the first one would be Gabriel or maybe Izuna. I could also see a world where we get a new character that ends up just playing like Order-Sol.

Seems inevitable due to some stuff in the leaks from a bit ago. It also just makes logical sense.

Specifically There are at least four new stages present in the leaks. My assumption would be that we get two in the base version of 2.0, and get the next two in the first wave of DLC.

These stages include China, a desert town, Zepp, and a water temple/castle.

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At the bare minimum, I fully expect the rest of the promised new moves (namely the ones for Sol, Ky, Nagoriyuki, Leo, and (probably) Zato) to be added. But I also wouldn't be surprised if more new moves were given to DLC characters who need it. To align with any balancing changes or reworks, I could even see characters who already got new moves getting more.

New system mechanics feel like the easiest way to give the entire playerbase a sense of excitement about the update, besides the obvious widespread rebalance. I think at least some sort of new addition to the system is nearly guaranteed, but what exactly it will be is pretty up in the air. I would expect it to be larger / more impactful than Wild Assault / Deflect Shield though. If their addition only constitutes the start of Season 3, the additions in 2.0 would have to be significantly larger.

I would probably expect something new rather than a returning mechanic, but I also wouldn't be too surprised to see something old come back.

Instant Kills Instant Kills are probably the most obvious choice to be added. The developers have been talking about wanting to add them for a while, and the general playerbase has requested IKs since release. I could absolutely seeing them added. Regardless of how influencial they are on the gameplay, Instant Kills are such a core part of the series' identity and the game has felt a bit wierd without them.

In a similar vein, they might give every character a special super like Lucy's Live Wire that has a unique animation when killing under specific circumstances.

Burst Overdrives Burst Overdrives have a ton of advantages to being added. They are VERY easy to implement, don't have a major effect on gameplay, and add a small resource management aspect. The problem is that the game just doesn't need them. Higher damage isn't something we need, and the other usual benefit of gaining full invuln just isn't particularly useful in this game. But I could see them adding some other new benefit instead. I would say they aren't necessarily unlikely or likely, just a bit of a weird choice.

Force Breaks Force Breaks are both very easy to add and very hard to balance around. A large amount of them would just be repurposed animations, but many characters would also just need new moves created. They would also add a new layer of meter management to the game, but I could easily see a future where they become overused. The game just isn't built around Force Breaks. Having 25% meter is not hard at all, so major reworks to the meter system would need to occur.

For example, imagine if Bedman? had a new Force Break version of call 0x$0.20 that made the affected error always have the effects of call 13c. In most circumstances, Bedman? will have at least 25% meter availible. This would kill the usefulness of call 13c outside of specific combos, and would make errors significantly more threatening at all times. Too threatening. Obviously this is just one hyper-specific example, but I could see similar issues popping up across the cast. The game's intended power level just isn't as high as XX and would be unable to support a feature like this.

All of this being said, I do still really like the idea of Force Breaks and would love to see ArcSys attempt to add them. I just don't see it happening unfortunately. It WOULD be a pretty easy way to generate hype though.

Homing Dash Homing Dash just doesn't feel like it needs to be added. Assuming it caused an automatic wallbreak like the regular Homing Jump, it would just end up being a less interesting version since it would likely devolve into spamming the same move repeatedly. I could definitely see it happening, but I doubt ArcSys would want it. At the very least, it would be fairly easy for them to add it.

I think at least some kind of new story content is very likely, the question is really just what size it will be. They could end up making a full new story mode like base Strive, or could create a few short episodes like in Rev 2. I would personally predict the latter, with the side stories featuring a bunch of the DLC characters that never got a place in the base story, Another Story, or Dual Rulers.

This includes Testament, A.B.A, Slayer, Venom, Jam, and Robo-Ky.

Alternatively, a full new story picking up on Strive's ending could easily happen. Chaos is still out there, and they could easily pick up on that plot thread. Or they could just as easily save that for a later game. Who knows.

Cosmetics are a weird topic. Guilty Gear, as a series, has never featured any form of purchasable cosmetics. But nearly every modern fighting game has turned to them as they simply print money. Granblue, a game published by ArcSys, also features cosmetics in the form of customizable weapons and some costumes.

I definitely could see a future where ArcSys decides to lean into this. Imagine the amount of money Bridget cosmetics would make. They could fund the series for the next decade. Of course they also have a ton of options for making these costumes, as costumes from previous games will always be popular.

EX Characters are mainly just a relic of the past, though very recently Granblue started to bring them back a bit. I could see ArcSys giving them a shot, especially due to how easily they can be implemented. But I could also very easily see them not wanting to bother with any of the balancing concerns. I would personally like to see them back but I have my doubts it would happen.

While not the same thing, they could also just make the arcade boss versions playable without mods and brand them as EX characters, technically.

Stylish Mode, or some other equivalent, at first seems pretty obvious but in practice is pretty hard to implement. Stylish Mode in Xrd allowed for autocombos and had a Special button, at the cost of taking significant extra damage. The problem is that the game just really doesn't support something like that. Gatlings are no longer P > K > S > H, so autocombos would be very hard to implement. Many characters also have way too many specials for a dedicated button to function. ArcSys could theoretically find a solution to all of this, but I just really doubt the effort is worth it.

Basically guaranteed. Most seasons have started with a very major balance patch, so a leap as large as 2.0 would absolutely mean a massive balance change.

I would not be surprised at all to see some sort of UI revamp. We already got a major rework to the main menu back in Season 3, so 2.0 will almost definitely bring something even bigger.

Character Select Assuming ArcSys is planning any more characters after Jam and Robo-Ky, they are going to be forced to at least somewhat change the character select. Only two more spots will be left following 2.0's release. With 2.0 being a "new chapter" as they described it, I highly doubt the DLC will be ending now. Therefore the character select must change.

The real question is just how much it will be changed. They could just add another row so there are more slots, or completely rework it to have way more style. Who knows.

Battle UI The battle UI has been an often criticized part of the game's look for a while. I personally don't think it is terrible or anything, but I could definitely see ArcSys putting some more style into it.

Ideally they could also expand the amount of information it presents, particularly with a

wall damage gauge

.

A new set of arcade modes would be nice, especially to replace some of the really weak ones in the game currently. They would also likely give the base roster + Season 1 bosses other than Nagoriyuki, which could lead to other stories. But I could also see them just doing nothing. I would say the chance would probably go up if they don't do a new story mode, but wouldn't really become super unlikely if they do.

Season 4 came with a few character reworks, with the major ones being Potemkin and Ramlethal. I could them doing a few more reworks of a slightly higher severity, though seeing how negative the feedback was to both of these reworks they may also be too scared to do so.

Replaced Moves Something I really doubt will happen. Generally moves are only replaced for super major reworks or if they are truly useless. Which is very rare in Strive. Not that this rule has stopped them before, of course....

But it COULD happen. I would just be expecting a full rework of a move before it gets completely replaced or something.

Stage reworks have occured in the past, but I really doubt they would happen now. Stages in Strive take significantly more effort to make than those in previous games due to the wallbreak system, and I think the work to change them would be a bit of a waste. Especially considering how incredible the stages already look.