During Japan’s top 8 tournament for the Dragon Ball FighterZÂ World Championship, it was revealed that the game would soon get a brand new character. An alternate version of Android 21, officially titled Lab Coat Android 21, has the game’s original character in her human, non-Majin form. This was a shock to many, as it was assumed by most that SS4 Gogeta was the last character to get added to the game. Not long after this, the game’s producer shed some more light on the game’s future, hinting at possibly more Dragon Ball FighterZÂ DLC and content.
On the official Dragon Ball website, a 10-minute video was posted to announce what is coming in the new year for the franchise. News was given on the series’ next big movie, Dragon Ball Super Super Hero (yes, that’s a dumb name), as well as the many Dragon Ball games that are currently active, including FighterZ. The game’s producer, Tomoko Hiroki, appears at the 3:07 mark in the video with a very brief message.
Her appearance lasts a mere 28 seconds, but during that time Hiroki mentions the success of the Dragon Ball FighterZÂ World Championship and also says the following: “We’re going to keep powering up Dragon Ball FighterZÂ in 2022.” Now, for a game that most assumed was winding down in development, this is pretty big news. On the pessimistic side, this could merely mean that a competitive season will begin in 2022 and nothing more. And, to be fair, that is entirely possible.
A senzu bean for DBFZ in 2022?
Eagle-eyed players noticed that the development side of Dragon Ball FighterZÂ went very quiet after the release of SS4 Gogeta. If there are no current plans to make a Dragon Ball FighterZ 2 of some kind, and a new season of DLC hasn’t been announced, what could it be? The most optimistic reading is that the game could be finally adding its most requested feature: rollback netcode. Just recently, Arc System Works added rollback to the Steam version of Blazblue Central Fiction, and it rocketed the game back to life.
As great a game as Dragon Ball FighterZÂ is, its lackluster netcode has the game’s online scene dying. It has been said in the past, by Hiroki herself, that rollback would be too difficult to implement into the game. This is likely true, as rollback is difficult to develop, especially in a 3D game that has been around for so long. However, if the developer managed to pull it off, Dragon Ball FighterZÂ could instantly become a “forever game” that could live for years to come. This would be great if it happened, but I am not holding my breath.
We will see more of Lab Coat Android 21 during the Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour coming on February 18. With any luck, we may also hear about what this new content could be.
