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BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Debuts in N. America on June 5 With RWBY's Blake Belladonna

Arc System Works announced on Saturday that it will release its 2D crossover fighting game BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle in Japan and the rest of Asia on May 31, followed by North Amerca on June 5. Arc System Works also announced that the PlayStation 4/Switch/Steam game will add the character Blake Belladonna from the 3D CG animated series RWBY, as a playable character via downloadable content.

The base game will feature 20 characters, and 20 more characters will be available via DLC. The additional characters will be available in several DLC releases: an Additional Character All-in-One Pack, Blake Belladonna by herself, six Additional Character Set volumes with three characters each (to be revealed later), and another additional character (to be revealed later).

In Japan, Arc System Works will offer a BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Limited Box featuring an exclusive collaborative box illustration (pictured below) between Toshimichi Mori (Arc System Works), Shigenori Soejima (Atlus), Seiichi Yoshihara (French-Bread), and Ein Lee (Rooster Teeth). The box's bonuses include the art box itself, the download code for the Additional Character All-in-One Pack, an art book, and an acrylic illustration standee (PlayStation 4 version only) or a multi-use storage pouch (Nintendo Switch version only).

The early copies of both the regular edition and the limited edition will also include the original soundtrack.

Finally, Arc System Works announced that people can try the game at the Evolution Championship Series: Japan 2018 event from January 26 to 28. The demo will feature all 20 built-in characters.

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle is a crossover between Arc System Works' BlazBlue and Persona 4 Arena fighting games, French Bread's Under Night In-Birth game, and Rooster Teeth's RWBY franchise. The title is a two-versus-two game. Arc System Works' newly established North American branch Arc System Works America, Inc. will release the game as its first title.

Confirmed characters include:

• Rachel Alucard, Hazama, Noel Vermillion, Azrael, Iron=Tager, Makoto=Nanaya, ν-No.13-, and Es (BlazBlue CentralFiction)
• Ragna the Bloodedge and Jin Kisaragi (BlazBlue)
• Yū Narukami, Yōsuke Hanamura, Chie Satōnaka, and Yukiko Amagi (Persona 4 Arena)
• HYDE, Linne, Waldstein, and Gordeau (Under Night In-Birth)
• Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose (RWBY)

BlazBlue CentralFiction originally debuted in Japanese arcades in November 2015, and the game launched in Japan for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 in October 2016. Aksys Games released the game in North America in November 2016.

Arc System Works released the home console version of the Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] game in Japan on July 20 on the PS4, and Aksys Games and Rice Digital will release the game on February 9. The game will also be available for download on PS4, PS3, and PS Vita on the same day.

Arc System Works developed the original Persona 4 Arena and released it in arcades in Japan in 2012. The game contains characters from Atlus' Persona 4 and Persona 3 role-playing games. The game shipped for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in Japan in 2012, and in the West in 2013. Arc System Works released a sequel titled Persona 4 Arena Ultimax in Japan in 2013, and in the West in 2014.

[Via Hachima Kikō (link 2), Gematsu]