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All Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero cross-platform play, netcode details

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With Dragon Ball Sparking Zero being the first game in the Budokai Tenkaichi series in over 15 years, fans want to know if the series will finally get cross-platform play or rollback netcode.

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is one of the most anticipated releases of 2024. While games like Metaphor: ReFantazio and the Silent Hill 2 remake have a massive fan following, the Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi games have been dormant since Budokai Tenkaichi 3 came out in 2007. Countless fans grew up with the game and want to relive their childhood with Sparking Zero.

Major improvements are expected since the last game in the Budokai Tenkaichi series came out on the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii. In addition to graphical leaps, gaming trends are different now than in the 2000s. Since cross-platform play is so common, fans wonder if Dragon Ball Sparking Zero will support it.

Does Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero have cross-platform play?

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero does not have cross-platform play at launch, and developers have stated there are no plans to add it in the future.

In an interview with IGN less than a month before the game’s release, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero producer Jun Furutani stated cross-platform play wasn’t planned. According to Furutani, there’s a “difficulty” developer Spike Chunsoft must face before implementing the cross-platform feature.

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero trailer screenshot

One likely difficulty is the internet problems Bandai Namco-published games are known for. While Naruto X Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections has crossplay between different generations of the same console, fans faced various lag and netcode-related issues. Additionally, while Tekken 8 has complete cross-platform play, many players disable it to avoid lag.

Furutani didn’t completely shut down the possibility of Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero getting crossplay in a future update. Fighting games like Guilty Gear Strive have seen crossplay added years after the initial launch. Fans shouldn’t necessarily expect it anytime soon, though.

Does Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero have rollback netcode?

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero doesn’t have rollback netcode.

The rollback netcode feature synchronizes game states in multiplayer fighting games to minimize latency and overall lagging, especially for those with high ping or sub-optimal network conditions. 

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However, Sparking Zero’s producer Jun Furutani confirmed the game will not have rollback netcode. Some fans hope a future update may add the feature since it happened with Dragon Ball FighterZ. However, the two games are drastically different despite being based on the same series.

Games like Dragon Ball FighterZ and Tekken 8 mostly utilize 2D movement so player movement is limited. This allows the rollback netcode feature to work properly by accurately predicting player movement. On the other hand, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is an arena fighter, where players have more options. Couple this with destructible environments and Bandai Namco’s known connectivity problems, and Sparking Zero’s netcode is understandably going in another direction.

As with cross-platform play, rollback netcode has been added to games long after their initial release, but there’s no indication that it’s planned for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero.

Written by Hannan Mundia X Twitter Logo

Hannan Mundia has been playing video games since he was just three years old. He loves everything about gaming, from RPGs to first-person shooters. He has sunk countless hours into Bethesda's popular RPGs, but his favorite game remains Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. His writing has also been featured on Fandom Spot, and you can follow him on Twitter / X at @zombiezomz.

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