Developer Hidden Variable and publisher Autumn Games have dropped the newest trailer for Skullgirls 2nd Encore, showcasing what fans can expect from the upcoming latest character. This trailer is dedicated to Annie of the Stars, who will be appearing in the game soon.
The new trailer is short and concise, with just a little over a minute worth of footage. However, knowing the Skullgirls fans, they will most likely have already dissected every second of it. It’s not brand-new information that Annie of the Stars is heading to Skullgirls 2nd Encore; in fact, this was first announced in August 2020. Still, seeing her in action in the trailer most probably still conjures up feelings of excitement.
One thing from the new trailer that may have caught the fans’ eye right away is the fact that Annie makes awesome use of her sword and kicks, creating combos that hurt enemy players. There’s a white rabbit that’s clinging to her leg as well, specifically on the leg that she uses to deal painful kicks, which is definitely an interesting creative decision.
Among other things, Annie looks like she has some kind of ultimate ability that looks somewhat similar to Dragon Ball Z’s Kamehama—but bedazzled with stars and similar effects, of course. Fans of Annie of the Stars won’t have to wait too long now, as the character is set to join the roster of fighters in Skullgirls 2nd Encore this year.
Before the trailer came to an end, though, the team working on the game left a small treat for fans. The end of a video showcases the roster of fighters that have been confirmed for the game so far, with the words, “A new star entered the spotlight,” which is most likely a reference to Annie.
However, right next to the new fighter is a black box that has a question mark on it, which suggests that Skullgirls 2nd Encore will reveal another character soon. There’s no other indication as to who this upcoming mystery character will be, and fans will just have to wait for more concrete information from either the developer or the publisher.
The release of Annie of the Stars as well as the mystery character may have taken longer than fans anticipated, but this is most likely due to the issues faced by Lab Zero Games. More specifically, there were sexual misconduct allegations against one of the studio’s employees.
The case against the studio took a lot of time and was of utmost importance. In fact, several developers of the first Skullgirls game resigned from Lab Zero Games and established their very own studio called Future Club. As such, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the development of Skullgirls 2nd Encore had to be put on hold for quite a while.
Due to the controversy, Autumn Games and Hidden Variable Studios separated themselves from Lab Zero Games, and essentially took over the development of Skullgirls 2nd Encore. Again, this probably took a lot of time to arrange as well, causing yet another delay.
Fortunately, all has been settled and the game’s development is going full steam ahead. Most importantly though, we hope that justice prevailed with regards to the sexual misconduct allegations and that everything has been taken care of.
