Guilty Gear Strive

Intended as a "complete reconstruction of the franchise", Guilty Gear Strive retains the core essence of the series but revamps many features and mechanics, except for the removal of the series’ signature mechanic, the Instant Kill. It introduces the "Wall Break" feature, which allows for stage transitions when a combo is initiated in the corner of the arena.

The story continues after the events of Guilty Gear Xrd. It is the conclusion of Sol Badguy's story (A.K.A. The Gear Hunters Saga), set in Washington, D.C., featuring his final confrontation with That Man, Asuka R. Kreutz.

Three weeks after former Sanctus Populi Ariels is defeated, I-No frees the powerful magic-user Happy Chaos from her body. S. president Colin Vernon E. Groubitz, intending to join the White House's G4 peace summit from a holding cell and ask the other nations for assistance in ridding the world of the Tome of Origin and Sol Badguy.

After a new installment in the Guilty Gear series was confirmed to be in development at EVO 2018 by Arc System Works, the game had its worldwide reveal and announcement trailer under the working title New Guilty Gear, showcasing the new Unreal Engine 4 graphics and Wall Break mechanic in EVO 2019. Two days later, the game's main theme song, "Smell of the Game", was fully revealed as a promotional single. The title Guilty Gear Strive was revealed in a trailer in November 2019.

According to director Akira Katano, the team aimed to appeal to more players by making the gameplay of Strive easier to comprehend compared to previous Guilty Gear games, instead of making it easier. He reasoned that with many fighting games, spectators and casual players would have a hard time understanding higher level play and lose interest in watching or improving. Unlike other entries, detailed explanations of the game's mechanics are absent from the game's tutorial as to "[...] show new players that it is possible to enjoy fighting games without knowing about the battle mechanics [...]". The game's network play also did not include a ranked mode at launch, a gameplay mode in video games that matches players based on their skill level, as to allow players to play at their own pace, instead of being forced to constantly improve.

Guilty Gear Strive received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. OpenCritic determined that 95% of critics recommend the game. IGN said "Guilty Gear Strive is a milestone 2D fighting game that raises the bar for anime-like fighters in terms of its visuals, online netcode, and sheer creativity found in all aspects of its design." GameSpot said "If you're up for a challenge, or just want a cool, sharp-looking fighting game to mess around with, Strive knows all the right moves."

Guilty Gear Strive won awards for Best Fighting Game at The Game Awards 2021 and Fighting Game of the Year at the 25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.