Sifu, the highly-praised beat’em up game from French studio Sloclap, is heading to Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam in March 2023. On top of reaching Microsoft’s consoles, the fighting game will include a new game mode called Arenas for fans to rediscover the game.
Prior to this announcement, Sifu was only available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via the Epic Games Store. This martial arts brawler is set in modern-day China and follows the adventures of a Kung Fu specialist on a path to revenge as they hunt down those who killed their family. The main character is either male or female depending on the player’s choice and bears a special amulet preventing them from dying when they lose a combat. Instead, they come back to life but a few years older, until eventually beating people up as an elder.
Sifu received praises for its take on the beat’em up genre, putting players’ progression at the core of its gameplay. Every time the main character loses a fight and ages, their maximum health is reduced but their attacks get more powerful, representing how experience impacts the performances of any Kung Fu master. With over 150 unique attacks, combos, and parries, Sifu features various moves the main character can use to move through the story and get their revenge on those responsible for their father’s death.
During The Game Awards 2022, Sifu was nominated for three awards: Best Independent Game, Best Action Game, and Best Fighting Game. While these categories were eventually won respectively by Stray, Bayonetta 3, and MultiVersus, Sifu still managed to gain international attention.
Through a new teaser trailer, developer Sloclap announced that Sifu would be coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam in March 2023. The video teases the upcoming Arenas mode, a new way of defeating enemies that will come as part of a free update that coincides with the game’s launch on Xbox consoles in March. Developer Sloclap described the goal of Sifu’s Arenas mode: “successfully completing the arenas will progressively unlock a massive new modifiers batch, which doubles the current game’s amount and notably brings alternative moves to the Kung Fu palette of our main character. Completing the new Arenas challenges will also unlock new cheats and exclusive new outfits.”
This new Arenas game mode will give a reason for players who already completed Sifu to come back to the game, while Xbox users will finally discover this new take on the martial arts brawler genre.
