The hit video games Dragon Ball FighterZ and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 have both passed the incredible milestone of 10 million* copies shipped worldwide! (*Including physical copies shipped and digital copies sold.)

To celebrate this monumental achievement, we interviewed the producers who helped create these popular games!
In part one of this interview, they shared their feelings about reaching this incredible milestone, told us some juicy game development tidbits, and more!

[Part 1] A Special Interview with the Producers of Dragon Ball FighterZ and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 to Celebrate 10 Million Copies Shipped!

In this second part, we are going to ask more detailed questions, from delving into their favorite characters to what they hope for the games in the future.
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Android 21 Is My Fav

—Who is your personal favorite character?

Hiroki: For FighterZ, it’s definitely Android 21 because she’s an original character and one of only a handful of women in the Dragon Ball franchise. There aren’t really any female characters besides Android 18 who can fight at the same level as the other powerful warriors, so I was a little bit concerned about what players would think, but I’m happy to say that it seems like they’ve accepted her as a Dragon Ball character just fine. Also, I was really happy that there is a scene in Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO that will make fans who know Android 21 stop and go, “Wait, did I just see what I think I did?"
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Hirano: I’ve always said Yamcha, as I have a particular affinity for good looking and confident male characters. I also really like Jiece since he’s kind of a pretty boy as well. But unfortunately, most handsome guys in Dragon Ball don’t last long. (Laughs)
Still though, the way Jiece is defeated by being blasted away by Vegeta at point-blank range is so cool. And of course, I also like the scenes where Yamcha gets beaten.
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(Dragon Ball Tale 289)

Hirano Rules!

—When the two of you look at each other’s games, what’s one thing that you think is different from the game you lead? Also, what’s something you think is especially fun about them to experience as a player?

Hirano: Those are tough questions, since we were both involved in the development of these two titles...

Hiroki: I was an assistant on Xenoverse 2, and Hirano came in and provided support when we were developing FighterZ.

Hirano: I started with wanting Xenoverse 2 and FighterZ to be two distinct games with their own distinct gameplay, so I want them to leave different impressions on players. I think that Dragon Ball fans out there want to experience a variety of playstyles. My plan was that the players who want to experience fierce battles would play FighterZ, and players that want to take screenshots of their characters and immerse themselves in the world of Dragon Ball would play Xenoverse 2. I’m really surprised that there are about the same number of players for each game.

Hiroki: Since we wanted them to be different types of games, we worked to make them look, feel, and play differently.

Hirano: That was our plan all along.

Hiroki: I remember being really excited when I first heard about Xenoverse. They released it without even mentioning it was an avatar-based game. I was excited because it was a new Dragon Ball game, but when I saw the avatar character in the background, it made me wonder, “Huh? Who’s that?” So, when I saw the announcement that you, the player, fight as an avatar, I thought, “Wow, Hirano rules!”
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Hirano: At the time I was super nervous about using avatars. Moreover, the advertisements made it seem like some third-party character rather than a character designed by the player themselves. I thought a lot about how to not make the players wonder too hard about who the character was, and ended up deciding to explain things bit by bit.
But, FighterZ is all about excitement, right?

Hiroki: Yes, that’s true. FighterZ is a bit unique when compared to other Dragon Ball games series, so there was a ton of pressure to get it right. It’s a 3v3 fighting game, so we started by revealing six characters, but I really wanted to emphasize how the game was like being able to control the characters as if they were straight from the anime. From there, I decided to start announcing the characters one by one, and I was really happy how positive the response was.
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Hirano: Don’t forget about how big the Kamehameha is. It nearly takes up the whole screen!

I Want Fans To Keep Enjoying Dragon Ball Far Into the Future

—What do you hope for FighterZ and Xenoverse 2 in the future?

Hiroki: FighterZ is a fighting game title we’ve been working really hard on this whole time, and we’ve hosted a tournament every year since release that fans from all over the world participate in. We are holding another world tour this year, so I hope we can keep finding ways to get fans to keep playing FighterZ for a long time.

Hirano: Even though it’s been seven years since Xenoverse 2 released, we still have about 1 million fans per month playing worldwide. It’s basically been that way since we released the game. Since so many people want to play this game, I want to create an environment where they can keep enjoying it. I really want fans to keep enjoying Dragon Ball far into the future. I also want to try and give players what they’re looking for, so the whole team is working hard to make that happen.

—Is there anything you’d like to say to FighterZ and Xenoverse 2 fans?

Hirano: When Xenoverse 2 was released, we initially announced we would support the game for a year so players could keep enjoying the game for a long time. As members of the Dragon Ball Games team, we wanted to release the best game possible for both Xenoverse 2 and FighterZ. We hope to continue in this vein, so I hope you’ll all keep looking forward to what we have in store. I want us to not only keep doing our utmost to meet fan requests for the games, but also make things that will surprise them. In May, we released Xenoverse 2 DLC based on the Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO movie, so I hope fans will enjoy that first.

Hiroki: We are continuing to work on the introduction of rollback netcode in FighterZ. I apologize it has taken this long, but we’ve been hard at work creating a rollback system that meets the quality that everyone has come to expect. As such, I'd really appreciate it if fans would be patient for just a little while longer and continue to give us your support.
Also, we at Bandai Namco Entertainment are continuing to work to convey the fun and excitement of Dragon Ball in different formats, not only through FighterZ but also DRAGON BALL: THE BREAKERS, DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT, and more. We aim to make sure all our games can reach not only 10 million copies shipped, but even more!

Hirano: I would also like fans to understand that we work on these games as a team.
It’s not every title for itself; we are all on the Dragon Ball Games team. Everyone works together to make Dragon Ball games that fans can look forward to. Right now, we have THAT new release coming up...

Hiroki: Oh, yeah that’s right! A new release! Stay tuned for that!
Also, we hold the DRAGON BALL Games Battle Hour event every year, and 2024 will be no different. Personally, I’d love to keep holding this event for as long as possible, so if you’re interested, please check out the past archives!
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—Thank you so much for your time!

These two producers and the team are hard at work at making new Dragon Ball games. I’m sure these new entries will push the envelope and set new records as well. We are all waiting with bated breath for each new release!

*All comic images are from the Japanese version.

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