Saber Interactive's Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn was successfully crowdfunded on Indiegogo all the way back in 2014, but outside of the confirmation of a Nintendo Switch version, the title has gone silent for quite a long period of time following a gameplay trailer at The Game Awards 2015.
The developers finally broke that silence today, as they released new screenshots and a brand new gameplay trailer for the game. Alongside these new assets, Saber also made a very interesting announcement: Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn will be free to current NBA Playgrounds owners on the Nintendo Switch for a limited time after launch.
The developers are doing this to thank the patient Nintendo Switch NBA Playgrounds Community, as that version has lacked proper online play since release. An update to fix that problem will be coming to the game very soon, though if you want to get the new Shaq Fu for free, you must purchase NBA Playgrounds on the Switch prior to this update. Matthew Karch, CEO of Saber Interactive, had the following to say about the state of NBA Playgrounds on Nintendo Switch and Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn:
"We had every intention of launching online play for NBA Playgrounds on Nintendo Switch within days of release, but, despite our best efforts, it didn’t play out that way. We sincerely apologize for the delay and want to let everyone know the fix will be coming very soon. But words are cheap, and games are not. So we’re giving everyone that bought NBA Playgrounds on Nintendo Switch before the online play patch hits a free copy of Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn on Switch when it is available this fall to express our gratitude.”
Saber Interactive has also launched the first update for NBA Playgrounds on PC and PS4, and stated that it will be live on the Switch and Xbox One in the coming days. This update adds fifteen new players, including Isaiah Thomas and Dennis Rodman. Shaq can also now be played with the various teams from his career.
The patch also brings Challenge Mode, where players can directly challenge others to online matches to the PS4, Xbox One and PC versions. This mode will come to the Nintendo Switch version alongside regular online play. Other things the update brings are a new connection manager, who penalizes players that disconnect from an online game to avoid losing, and a tweaked shooting system and UI.
You can check out the new screenshots and watch the gameplay trailer for Shaq Fu: A Legend Rebornm below. Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn is currently slated to come to Nintendo Switch, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U this fall.