Gundam Game Fest Overview

For anyone interested in video games based on the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, the Gundam Game Fest was meant for you. Lasting 20 minutes, the event was simply promoted to showcase the latest updates on SD Gundam Battle Alliance, Gundam Evolution, and Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operations 2. I’ve summarized everything that was revealed and gone over below.

The first game to be shown was SD Gundam Battle Alliance, which was first announced at the February Nintendo Direct. It takes place in the “G Universe” where distorted breaks are causing changes in well-known Gundam stories. The idea should seem pretty familiar if you’ve played the story modes to the Dragon Ball Xenoverse series. After completing a “break mission” you can play through the true mission that’s authentic to the stories. This can be done regardless of if you’re playing solo or as a part of a three-member platoon consisting of either two AI units or online teammates.

What was the biggest news to come out for the game was that the release date is set for August 8th. In addition, the pre-order bonuses were also revealed. They consist of the SD Gundam World Sangoku Soketsuden pack, a Start Dash Pack, and Unit “Gundam” early release, as well as early releases for both the “Knight Gundam” and “Musha Gundam”. A season pass was also revealed, which will feature three packs of new units and scenario missions.

Next to be shown was Gundam Evolution. A good part of the time was spent going over the different game modes and as well as elements such as customization. For those interested in a more in-depth look at all aspects of the game, I was lucky enough to make it into the PC network test and spend some time with the game.

Console players had the best news coming out of this, as the long-awaited console network test was announced. It’s set to take place from 6/23 to 6/28 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. The first round of applications will be accepted from 5/26 to 6/12 while the second round is from 6/12 to 6/25.

That just left us with Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation 2. This stands as the only game that isn’t an entirely new release. It was first released back in 2018 in Japan on the PlayStation 4. Western areas would see it localized in October 2019 and then see it released with crossplay to the PlayStation 5 in January 2021. New mobile suits are added each week and they now have approximately 300 different mobile suits available to play. A recent update added a new map and the Delta Plus mobile suit. Coming soon will be Chatria, who appeared in the same movie series as Delta Plus.

Back in April, it was announced that the game would have a PC port on Steam and would also hold a network test. This network test was scheduled for April 22nd but was canceled a few days prior. For those that were hoping that some new information would be provided after the month-long silence on the topic, unfortunately, nothing was mentioned. We’ll just have to wait until they’re ready to announce the second network test they mentioned on Twitter.

Closing out the event was an announcement trailer for a new entry in the SD Gundam G Generation strategy-RPG series. SD Gundam G Generation Eternal is a free-to-play mobile title that lets you experience many different stories from the franchise, such as anime, manga, movies, and even novels. It all takes place on grid-based maps with mobile suits you want on your squad. A closed beta test will be coming soon.

It’s exciting to see so many upcoming Mobile Suit Gundam games, especially when most of them are coming to PC as well. The PC platform hasn’t seen a lot of attention and even when it did it was typically only in Japan. I’m happy to see more games available for their global audience. If you happened to miss out on Gundam Game Fest when it aired, the entire presentation can be seen below.