BODY: Arcade pilots across Japan are about to get two fresh reasons to feed the machine. On August 22, 2026, Bandai Namco Experience confirmed that its team-based action title Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. 2 Infinite Boost (EXVS.2 IB) will receive new playable mobile suits across two updates, landing September 1 and September 16.
Leading the charge is the Gundam Ashtaron Hermit Crab, a striking design pulled from the Iron-Blooded Orphans universe. Known for its aggressive, close-range fighting style and distinctive clawed appearance, the Ashtaron variant should give melee-focused players a new toy to master in the game's frantic 2v2 skirmishes.
Joining it is the Black Knight Squad Karura, hailing from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM, the 2024 film that reignited fan enthusiasm for the SEED franchise. Its inclusion continues the game's steady push to fold in units from the latest theatrical entries, keeping the roster feeling current.
Beyond the new arrivals, the September 1 update also delivers balance adjustments targeting ten existing mobile suits. In a competitive scene where frame data and cost efficiency are debated obsessively, even minor tuning can reshape which units dominate the arcade tier lists.
The insider take
In Japan, EXVS remains one of the last great pillars of the arcade—a genre most of the world has written off as extinct. Walk into a Namco or GiGO game center in Akihabara or Ikebukuro on a weekday evening and you'll still find rows of dedicated cabinets humming, regulars trading two-player teams with silent, practiced coordination. That living arcade culture is exactly why Bandai Namco keeps the update cadence tight: these drops aren't just content patches, they're events that pull veterans back to the machines. Adding a SEED FREEDOM unit is a savvy bit of synergy, riding the film's lingering box-office goodwill straight onto the cabinet.
Originally reported by 4Gamer.net − 最新記事 (Japanese).