Sword Art Online SAO Variant Showdown re-release
Image courtesy of Bandai Namco

Sword Art Online: Variant Showdown Will Re-Release After Maintenance

Bandai Namco has announced that it will re-release Sword Art Online: Variant Showdown “soon.” The SAO mobile game will make its return after a long-term maintenance period that has lasted for over a year.

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For the record, Bandai Namco originally launched Sword Art Online: Variant Showdown in late November 2022. However, it enacted a long-term maintenance that started on September 28, 2023, to address numerous issues that plagued the mobile game. The company initially promised to re-release Variant Showdown by ending the maintenance in Summer 2024, but it ended up taking more time than originally planned.

The re-release will come with numerous new content and improvements. The additions of Mito and Agil as new playable characters will headline the major update. Bandai Namco will also add a new Multiplayer Battle mode while employing the recurring characters’ Japanese voice actors to provide full voiceovers for the main story.

An English version of the re-release promotional video is available to watch via the official YouTube channel dedicated to the Sword Art Online game series:

Bandai Namco has also published an alternative announcement video that features direct messages and in-depth feature explanations by the SAO mobile game producer Takeuchi. An English-subtitled version of this video is also available to view right below:

Sword Art Online: Variant Showdown will be available again on Android and iOS mobile devices worldwide.


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Kite Stenbuck
Japanese News Translator
Kite is a Japanese translator and avid gamer from Indonesia, Southeast Asia who learned the language mostly by playing Japanese games from the PS1 era. He primarily translates news about Japanese games and anime straight from Japan. After initially starting with a focus on Dynasty Warriors communities from the mid-2000s, he eventually joined Siliconera in 2020. Other than Dynasty Warriors, Kite is also a big fan of Ace Combat and other games featuring mechs, especially Gundam.