Free Step Dodge

Yes - a new stunning and impressionable IP took precedence over a new Dead or Alive or a new Ninja Gaiden from Team NINJA. While it could be viewed as peculiar to some, KOEI TECMO wasn't even planning to be at the show at all, so it was nice to see something from the team ahead of TGS. Plus, Phil Spencer brought up the importance of Japanese development being a part of their systems, and that they missed working with Team NINJA like they did in the past.

Team NINJA's last game was Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin and it was considered a great action-rpg for the fans of Final Fantasy I. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is also being categorized as an action-rpg. We don't know a lot about the game yet, but it's being headed by Fumihiko Yasuda, and he has in some capacity worked on every franchise Team NINJA has at their disposal and is most famous for working on Nioh. To make...

Dead or Alive 6 has been coming back into our feeds with offline & online tournaments for your viewing and studious pleasure, but it's also been paying off to compete online, maybe even more so than offline - which might come as a bit of a shock for regular offline competitors. Because of the extremely generous and loyal DOA community, DOA6 accrued 1,039 USD for the month of May between the Emery Reigns Throw-Down & Hoodless Weekly. We are expecting higher numbers in future months because: interest has increased for Dead or Alive 6, people are anticipating more Emery Reigns Throw-Down events, more prominent players in the community are contemplating weekly tournaments of their own, and the consistency of Hoodless Weekly remains as constant as it does necessary.


Emery Reigns has been the biggest draw in the DOA community. He knows how to promote his material, he put the time into the community to deserve the...

This Saturday Dead or Alive 6 will be live streamed at Combo Breaker 22 for the duration of Top 4. NetBattles will begin streaming this offline tournament at 4PM EST and we will get 60-90 minutes of stream time. While this is a fairly short day for DOA6 it's encouraging to see the game return to events, and not only that, but to see that people are still interested in playing after such a long hiatus.


There are other recent tournaments that you May have missed this month: Hoodless live streamed his 100th weekly tournament this week, the Italian scene is still competing with their Elimination Round tournament, but the chances are really high that you didn't hear a thing about Australia's BAM 22 tournament that happened several days ago. BAM 22 was not a heavily promoted tournament, but the performance of fighters from this event is what made it so good. Check out the BAM...

Hoodless is the Dead or Alive 6 World Champion, and he has been a superb one, offering the community a hosted online tournament every week that not only highlights our fighters, but helps get them paid in the process. This is his 100th week hosting this event and Master joins the festivities by congratulating the champion and joining the commentary team. Please join the chat tonight and give our champ some praise for his immense efforts for this community! If you haven't already - follow his adventures on Twitch & YouTube as he continues to do these incredible weekly tournaments.

If you're new to the Dead or Alive franchise and own just about any type of XBOX system, you can get the entire fighting series for 86.99. That's less than one of the season passes at regular price, but as a special bonus, these season passes are half off for XBOX players as part of the discount. This sale has just begun and will be running until the 23rd of May.

Dead or Alive 1: Ultimate is an underrated gem that many people new to the franchise have been curious about. The game is currently on sale for 7.99 and while it no longer includes online play or wide-screen support; the character models look really nice on XBOX S|X and I have spent a number of hours just enjoying it without needing to hook up my Saturn or Playstation. This is the cheapest title of the sale and a great start to your digital DOA library.

Dead or Alive 2: Ultimate and Dead or Alive 3, both look incredibly refreshing on S|X. Both of these titles are priced at 11.99 and...

Today is the last day to register for the Illinois Combo Breaker event All In Together hosted by your DOA6 World Champion Hoodless. Dead or Alive 6 will be on the tournament stage for the first time in months. Seeing as how many fighters have improved their game drastically over the pandemic, it's extremely important that they bring some of that momentum to this event seeing that it's a great challenge to bring DOA6 up to where it was a few years ago after it has taken an extensive break from the offline scene.

You have until 9:59pm PDT today to register for this tournament. Keep in mind that while All In Together is free, you must buy a community pass to participate at this event. Also make reference to their Smash.GG. Stay tuned May 28th...

Dead or Alive 6 is starting to see some more activity in its competitive scene again and Italian players are looking to get in the action being showcased and highlighted for their efforts. There are some real talented players that are missing from this Italian tournament, but there are a wide range of advanced players and rookies at this event despite a total lack of pre-promotion in the most obvious shareable places. This tournament is unorthodox and follows its own set of rules, but please enjoy and support these DOA players in this ongoing event by MasterNINJARyu who has been seen by some as the "Italian reference point" to Team NINJA's mainstay games.


Elimination Round D definitely plays out like a rookie cup as most of these players are relatively new to the game and don't have any (or very little) offline experience. Akumasama and C-18 Chan were definitely among some of the standouts. C-18 Chan seemed to have some...

Twenty days ago, Koei Tecmo donated 500,000 USD (61,830,000 Japanese Yen) to help out with refugee efforts in Ukraine, and the impact of this is significant because alongside Sega they were among the first Japanese game companies to offer assistance to Ukraine. According to Kotaku, Koei Tecmo plans to get their players involved with donation efforts in the future. No matter what your political beliefs may be, it's a universal belief to care for the people that have no choice, have lost their homes, and possibly torn away from their loved ones.

The first order of business for most American companies was to announce the dismissal of goods to be sold in Russia due to the illegal invasion of Ukraine. Despite the debatable relationship between Japan and Russia - Tecmo Koei made it very apparent they would help Ukraine very early on in this war which could be viewed by most as courageous...

If you own one of the many versions of XBOX ONE you now have complete access to Dead or Alive 1-6 in one official place. This information was leaked sometime last week and was made official yesterday at the 20th Anniversary celebration of XBOX. The hype is all over the Internet, and this is not new information, but allow us to throw in a few more details that could pique your interest further and possibly garner your attention to join the "XBOX family."

For your convenience the prices will be listed for all of the "new" backwards compatible games, but if you still have all of your Dead or Alive games from the past you don't need to pay a dime as you can simply put in the original discs and boom, you are in the club, and you are ready to go. You will be prompted to install the game off the disc and it's yours forever and playable with the click of a button.

To think that people are raving over this and wanted it for years, but yet Sony turned their back on this idea...

BigE's Summer Jam 2021 is taking place next weekend at Cherry Hill, New Jersey and will be the first major to host Dead or Alive 6 in nearly two years thanks to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic keeping almost everyone at home. This is the first small step to coming back together as a community; this first opportunity in months. We have suffered from offline tournaments long enough, and now it's time to go back to showcasing our game with high level play and spectacular matches from some of the best players in the entire world.

Will Hoodless be at this event? YES! The Dead or Alive 6 World Champion is known to make his mark at nearly every possible offline event. Which character(s) will he pick this time? He does have a stunning arsenal to choose from doesn't he? More than likely he will stick to his guns: Zack & his elusive Rig whom can not be matched in Dead or Alive 5 or Dead or Alive 6. He has taken Rig to new heights and he will without doubt...

SNK recently announced that their mobile title The King of Fighters: All-Stars would crossover with Dead or Alive characters. The KOF characters: Mai (who appears in DOA5 & DOA6) and Kula Diamond (DOA6) were widely well received and the significance of this crossover several years later is that the relationship between SNK and Team NINJA is still apparent. This also marks the first time that DOA and Tekken have crossed over in any form of media as mentioned by veteran fighter, @DestructionBomb .

The King of Fighters competitive scene has been praising the look of Mai since debuting to DOA in Dead or Alive 5: Last Round. Both series seem to be a natural pair, and let's not forget the Virtua Fighter guest appearances in the DOA5 saga that changed the way we look at DOA competitively. KT and Team NINJA both seem to have a knack for keeping healthy relationships within the game industry and it's shown in this latest crossover...

Emery Reigns is hosting an online Dead or Alive 5: Last Round tournament this weekend and is a continuation of his successful 'Throwdown' tournament series. Since the COVID-19 pandemic and discontinuation of Dead or Alive 6 content & regular updates players have dipped into many different titles from the mixed Dead or Alive 4 to the masterpiece Dead or Alive 5 - it is direct proof that no game is the same in this franchise, but a few things they share include longevity and memorable moments. This tournament is special because DOA5LR is returning from a long hiatus and the passion of this game continues to impress the community as players that have been gone for a number of years are coming back for this two-day event.

This tournament is stacked with Dead or Alive...

Several days ago Bloomberg released an article that stated Microsoft would be looking to acquire Japanese based video game studios, but Microsoft executive Phil Spencer states he doesn't know a thing about this acquisition, and admits he isn't kept up to speed on everything. A couple days before this interview KOEI TECMO revealed that they were indeed pursued by Microsoft for a possible partnership. Regardless of what will happen, this is the most attention KT has received since the release of Nioh 2 and all eyes are on KT and Microsoft game studios as we get deeper into a new console generation.

Start your research by taking quick examination of the Bloomberg article. While there are no real quotes to harvest from this piece it does state some interesting and non-denied specifics:

It has approached several Japan-based game...

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Despite the COVID-19 pandemic preventing thousands of fighters worldwide from perfecting their craft offline, Dead or Alive 6 world champion, Hoodless has extended his identity by leaps and bounds this year: growing his Twitch channel & social media accounts, promoting Dead or Alive players and even helping them get paid through his weekly online tournaments - now he's taking on interviews where tough questions are asked, and he masterfully protects the players that enjoy Dead or Alive, KOEI TECMO & Team NINJA while offering his own truths in the process.

The first half of this Salt Shakers interview is a good background reference of his DOA career, it not only spans many game titles, but incredible stories, International competition and commitment to traveling the world for his game. Taking a few minutes to listen to some of his advice could save you hundreds of dollars if you are just starting tournaments, and he explains how he budgets his journeys in this...

After being inspired by the Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball opening remaster in 5K, Free Step Dodge owner, Matt Ponton remastered the entire Dead or Alive 2: Ultimate opening cut scene in glorious crisp 8K running at a stunning 60 frames per second over a long weekend of work. This is considered by many DOA players to be one of the best cut scenes in the series if not one of the best CGI cut scenes in fighting games. Nearly 20 years later this incredible story has been retold looking more beautiful than it ever has.

The scene starts with Kasumi and Ayane's childhood, playing innocently and enjoying life outside as all kids should. The first thing players will notice about this scene is how clear and colorful it is compared to the now blurry original - eternally stuck in a blurry 480p at 30fps. If we were to take a gander now at the original it would almost terrify you. The water reflections off of the...

Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball's iconic opening CGI scene has been fully remastered nearly 18 years later by YouTuber, White Charisma utilizing AI upscaling in delicious 4K/5K at 60 frames per second. The original 2003 scene ran at 480p and 30 frames per second. By watching the video you can see the difference clearly on almost any screen available for your use.

One of the encapsulating things about Dead or Alive in the early 2000s were the CGI scenes that shed light, story and personalities to the DOA characters. Since Dead or Alive: Dimensions on the 3DS - Team NINJA has chosen to work with in game cut scenes for their storytelling and departure from Itagaki's narrative. Before this fighters were always eager to see the latest batch of CGI in the next Dead or Alive and it became a staple of Team NINJA to include them in most of their games.

This beautiful & remastered scene helps us...

Breaking News: Hoodless is currently streaming his 20th consecutive tournament at his Twitch channel. Support this recurring event by donating to the prize pool through Matcherino.

The Hoodless Weeklies take place every Monday at the champ's Twitch channel, and not only are these online tournaments a valuable source of DOA entertainment, but players can view it as a way to be rewarded with screen time and money as we continue to fight in a pandemic with no offline majors to attend. Please subscribe to Hoodless on Twitch so that you can familiarize yourself with his stream schedule. If you miss one of his weekly events you can peruse his YouTube for convenient...

Hello - it's been quite some time since the last update has it not? Hopefully everyone in the community is staying safe out there! If you've been bored and desperate for some news pertaining to our game you might be interested in watching the 'Japan Fighting Game Publishers Round Table' today at 8pm EST via the Dead or Alive channel on YouTube.

This will feature a panel, a slew of fighting games, announcements for fighting games and more. The director of Dead or Alive 6, Yohei Shimbori will be present at this panel to answer questions. What could happen at the round table is the question people have on their minds, and while there are no concrete answers there are some possible outcomes to examine:

Dead or Alive 6 Ultimate is not a far cry since the vanilla version of the game has been discontinued and a lot of players would like to see Team NINJA's vision for the game revised. It's hard for anyone to...

Because of the pandemic fighting game communities have been resorting to online competition while we wait for our respective areas to open up again. Thanks to the efforts of @VigilantSeaGull & FSD you can spectate Dead or Alive 6 competition now at the official FSD Twitch channel. You can contribute to the growing prize pot via Matcherino. Commentary is provided by the hype machine, Megaphone Franke & veteran player, Seres Borne.

This 'stress test' is a first attempt at delivering competitive 'Stay at Home' online tournaments for Dead or Alive 6. While there have been some technical issues, the overall layout & presentation of this event has been great. The commentary is engaging, matches are fun to watch and Free Step Dodge's Twitch channel continues to evolve with a better look catered to players of Dead or Alive. This FREE entry...

Zakkurye has hosted his first Royal Summit FT10 series debuting the event for Dead or Alive 5: Last Round with XcaliburBladeZ & MCD as the two featured competitors. BladeZ has touted a vicious persona lately through social media calling players out and is truly playing the part of being a cocky prize fighter. MCD wanted to prove that he had the best Jann Lee but perhaps now is not the time as BladeZ answered the call and dominated most of this set.

If you think you are good enough to be featured in this FT10 Royal Summit series please contact Zakkurye for a chance to compete. There were a lot of spectators for the debut and the event was complemented with great commentary.


Episode 2 was released last week and features more matches in...

While heavies have largely been nerfed for Dead or Alive 6 they still encapsulate most of the elements that make DOA great to begin with. Their incredible animation & move variety, staggering throw damage, gameplay options and tactics make them must watch characters at tournaments - especially since most DOA players prioritize speed-based characters into their respective game. A new member at FSD by the name of @cotrienla has shared his Bass Wall Game discoveries in a comprehensive guide that will give you an idea of how much Bass can do to his foes on various walls in the game.


New members of FSD are encouraged to report their unique character findings in the character forums. We provide a sub-forum for every official character in Dead or Alive 6 so please continue sharing and studying from the safety and convenience of your...