Toei Animation Claims "No Knowledge" Of Dragon Ball FighterZ's Removal from EVO Japan
By Jason Fanelli ·
One of the most prominent IP owners for Dragon Ball Z weighs in on the DBFZ removal controversy with the equivalent of a virutal shrug.
After the removal from Dragon Ball FighterZ from two prominent upcoming tournaments caused a bit of a stir, at least one of the property’s IP owners has come out saying it wasn’t their fault.
Toei Animation, in response to a fan’s question about the decision on Twitter, addressed the situation in a direct reply:
Apologies, but we have no knowledge about preventing DBFZ tournaments.
This comes as a surprise to some, as Toei was widely considered to be the root cause of the game’s removal. However, as Shoryuken.com points out, prominent fighting game commentator and licensed attorney “UltraDavid” lended an interesting angle to the situation:
Like I said, there are lots of rights holders involved. Could be a rights issue from some other angle instead
The uncertain future of Dragon Ball FighterZ in the fighting game community is one of the most intriguing storylines in all of esports heading into 2019. The game saw massive success critically, financially, and professionally after taking center stage at tournaments like Final Round, Combo Breaker, and even Evo 2018. To pull the game now, especially if Bandai Namco is planning a second round of downloadable fighters, would be a very confusing choice.
We will keep an eye on this story and report on it immediately as things develop. In the meantime, check out our coverage on the Bandai Namco side of DBFZ and the company’s new head of esports development.