Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes arrives next year

Developer French-Bread has officially announced its next entry in the Under Night series. French-Bread and Arc System Works will launch Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes in 2024 for PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.

Set as the sequel to the first Under Night In-Birth, UNIB II will feature the “final chapter” of the Hollow Night storyline that started over a decade ago with the original release. Under Night mixes light novel story with fighting game action.

As far as fighting games go, Under Night is squarely in the anime fighter subgenre and is a pretty enjoyable one, too. For Under Night In-Birth II, there will be an expanded move list, new character abilities, and updates to the battle system. There’s also an EXS button, which sounds like a beginner-friendly control scheme similar to auto-combos.

For fighting game players, the big news is that yes, Under Night In-Birth II will have rollback netcode. It’s always nice to have, as it lets players meet up and fight online with a solid connection. It’s quickly becoming the gold standard, but it’s nice to see French-Bread and Arc System Works emphasize its inclusion.

Into the Under Night

Those at Evo 2023 this weekend will get to play some Under Night In-Birth II, as Arc System Works’ booth is hosting gameplay demos. It’s not the only brand-new fighting game in town, either. Mortal Kombat 1, Tekken 8 and Riot Games’ Project L are all in Las Vegas this weekend too. That’s not even counting all the currently released fighting games at Evo, hosting tournaments.

It’s going to be an exciting weekend for fighting game aficionados, for sure. I’m also pretty happy to see Under Night get a sequel like this. It’s a fighter I frequently enjoy going back to, and I’m interested in seeing what French-Bread’s got in the oven.

Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes will head to PlayStation, Switch, and PC sometime in 2024.