Virtua Fighter 5 R was an update to Virtua Fighter 5, released on July 24th 2008 to Japanese arcades. This revision featured brand new stages and a new character named Jean Kujo, who practices Karate. Also included was the return of the sumo wrestler Taka-Arashi from Virtua Fighter 3, which brought the fighter count up to twenty (counting Dural).

A "Version A" update was released on December 16th, 2008. The version added various improvements to the game, as well support for the "Bingo Festival - Bingo Days!" event for the month of December 2008.

Version B of Virtua Fighter 5 R was officially released in the Japanese arcades on May 21, 2009. This version featured changes in the animations of moves on all the characters, as well as changes to enhance the gameplay modes, and an improved camera system.

Version C was released on November 25, 2009. However, this particular version mainly added new team items for the character's outfits.

All of the sought after invitations for the Fifth World Fighting Tournament have been sent and now the 17 best fighters in the world begin their final phases of preparation. They must learn from their prior mistakes and perfect every aspect of their mind, body, and soul - for there is no room for mistakes in this competition. Little do they know that J6, the organization funding the tournament, has sinister ulterior motives for the contest and the company's top secret Dural program is already well underway.

In the organization's quest for world domination, the scientists at J6 are creating the ultimate fighting machine with human features. Their first model was defeated in the Fourth World Fighting Tournament, which drove them to kidnap Vanessa. She was able to escape with the help of an insider, but not before they captured her combat data and transferred it to the new advanced Dural model named V-Dural. J6 is determined to find out who the inside traitor is that released Vanessa and more importantly, if V-Dural is indeed ready to defeat the world's best fighters. The Fifth World Fighting Tournament will reveal both - let it begin.