BODY: Fighting game fans got a notable surprise on June 28, when Cygames announced that Id will join the roster of Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising (GBVSR), the Arc System Works–developed fighter. The fiery dragon-wielding swordsman arrives via a September 17 update, the same day the game lands on Nintendo Switch 2.
What makes Id stand out is his origin. Rather than debuting from the mobile gacha title Granblue Fantasy, Id crosses over from Granblue Fantasy: Relink, the 2024 action RPG developed alongside Cygames' in-house team. It's a rare case of a character leaping from one Granblue spin-off into another, underscoring how the franchise increasingly treats its sub-titles as a shared universe rather than isolated products.
Id is best known to Relink players as a volatile, fire-aligned fighter tied to the primal beast Lucilius and the dragon Bahamut. His aggressive, high-risk playstyle in the source RPG suggests Arc System Works has plenty of material to translate into GBVSR's accessible-yet-deep fighting system, which already blends one-button specials with traditional motion inputs.
The timing alongside the Switch 2 launch is no accident. Bundling a buzzworthy new character with a fresh platform release is a classic move to maximize attention—and to give returning and new players a reason to jump in on day one. Cygames has not yet detailed Id's full move set or his price within the season pass structure.
The insider take
From Tokyo, this reads as Cygames deliberately consolidating the Granblue brand across formats. Relink sold strongly and earned goodwill from action fans who'd never touched the gacha game, so pulling Id into GBVSR is a smart way to keep that audience engaged while feeding the fighting-game community fresh content. Pairing it with Switch 2—a console Japanese publishers are eager to support early—signals Cygames wants GBVSR positioned as a long-term platform staple, not a one-and-done release.
Originally reported by AUTOMATON (Japanese).