Either Ice-T knew a new Def Jam game was coming or his timing is just impeccable. Earlier this month, the rapper tweeted out that the franchise needed to reboot Def Jam: Fight For New York for the upcoming PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Now, a few days later, Def Jam Recording's teases that it has a new Def Jam video game in the works.
The label took to its Twitter account to make the tease, claiming that it hears fans have been asking for a new installment in the series. The tweet goes on to say that if the Def Jam Recordings Twitter account reaches a million followers, it has a special announcement in store for fans.
At the time of this writing, the account has exactly 1,006,360 followers. The account has been over a million for about a day now but hasn't made any announcements yet. It's only a matter of time, though. Considering the wording of the tweet, it's almost certain that the upcoming announcement will be for a new Def Jam game. The only question is whether it's a Def Jam: Fight for New York reboot announcement or a Def Jam: Fight for New York sequel announcement.
Def Jam Recordings teased that it had a new Def Jam game in development back in 2018. It asked fans who they wanted to see on the cover and even what city it should take place in, providing Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, and Miami as locations. The title of the game would depend on the city, and by the looks of the title layouts displayed, the new game would be a Def Jam: Fight for New York sequel.
Fans didn't think much of the teases because the label didn't tweet any follow-ups after the initial ones — at least, not until recently that is. This new tweet seems to imply that Def Jam Recordings was testing the waters a bit and gauging fan interest, which makes sense, as the most recent game in the Def Jam series, Def Jam: Icon, wasn't very well-received.
The Def Jam series is known for its fighters, so the new Def Jam's character roaster will be its biggest selling point. Tons of new artists have made a name for themselves since Fight For New York, and several of them have ties to Def Jam Records. Beyond that, it will be interesting to see if Def Jam Recordings sticks with EA as its publisher should it actually announce a new Def Jam game.