Dragon Ball fans are quite opinionated, as the response to the upcoming action-RPG Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 has made clear. While many fans were excited to hear Xenoverse would return after more than a decade, their enthusiasm cooled when developer Dimps revealed early footage of the game. One design change in particular drew significant backlash: going Super Saiyan would have a time limit.
That was just the tip of the iceberg, and now publisher Bandai Namco appears to be reacting to considerable fan feedback and pushing back Xenoverse 3‘s release window.
In the first two Xenoverse games, once a character built up enough energy, they could perform a Super Saiyan transformation that would last for the remainder of a level, delivering the kind of power fantasy series fans expect from a Dragon Ball video game. By contrast, early gameplay footage for Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 showed Super Saiyan transformations would be time-limited, with the power-up seemingly lasting for one minute. Fans expressed their agitation en masse on social media. “I hope to see the whole community bashing this idea nonstop until they change it, because they won’t do anything if they can pretend it’s only a minority of people,” one Reddit user wrote.
Beyond this, players were dissatisfied with the game’s UI and visuals. Others pointed out that content creators had run into severe connection issues when previewing the game. Essentially, many thought the game didn’t look ready.
How has Bandai Namco responded to these criticisms?
Bandai Namco seems to be listening. “Today we shared more information about battle customization and PvE missions,” Xenoverse 3producer Masayuki Hirano said. “I wanted to use this opportunity to deliver a message to our fans. Over the past several months, we have continuously revealed new information to all of you and, in return, have received valuable feedback. We are truly grateful for that support. Based on the feedback and survey results we have gathered, we have already held discussions with the development team and announced certain areas where we intend to make improvements in response.” While Hirano didn’t promise anything specific, like changes to Super Saiyan transformations, it seems quite possible this is one of the improvements he’s referring to.
“Dragon Ball Xenoverse is a series that we build together with the players through launch, and throughout its post launch life as well. To fully realize our ambitions for both the launch experience and the content we plan to operate and support afterward, the release window is currently set for the latter half of 2027.”
While Hirano didn’t explicitly call it a delay, as Xenoverse 3was previously set for a broad 2027 release window, it sounds like the team decided to give the game more development time in response to feedback. Despite how delays are usually received, most fans seem happy with the news, as this gives more time for polish and potential Super Saiyan transformation changes.
Hirano added that it may be a while until we get more news on the game. “We may keep you waiting a little longer until our next update, but we are fully committed to making 2027 a great year for Dragon Ball game fans, and we will do everything we can to make that happen.”
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is slated for release on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.
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