Is Dragon Ball FighterZ The Great Uniter Of Fighting Games?

By the end of January, the fighting game community will have another game to flock to in Dragon Ball FighterZ. The 3-on-3 fighter developed by Arc System Works has been praised for its faithfulness to the beloved anime, as well as its cel-shaded graphics and easy-to-digest gameplay. There is tons of overlap between fighting game players and Dragon Ball fans, so it’s a no-brainer for an established developer to release a game that caters to both audiences.

When a game featuring a beloved license comes out, it’s sure to draw interest by not only fans of the genre, but fans of the show. The Dynasty Warriors: Gundam series comes to mind, as musou Warriors fans, beat-em-up fans, and Gundam fans all had something they could enjoy. Fighting game players have enjoyed licensed games in the past, like Injustice, Marvel vs. Capcom, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Hokuto no Ken (If you have not seen this game, it’s based on the Fist of the North Star anime and manga series which is also by Arc System Works and you need to watch the video below right now.) 

For me, the only fictional character I love as much as Ryu is Goku, so Dragon Ball FighterZ game has me as stoked as anyone. However, I wanted to see what other FGC members thought. We already know folks like Kumite in Tennessee winner Gilbert “HB | Punisher” Matos will be partaking, but what about the general population? I headed to Reddit in search of answers (and all I got was this lousy pie chart.) 

I asked around 75 members of the r/dragonballfighterz subreddit and other friends for their fighting game history, and they were very kind in going through their histories, as I did mine. Players were able to select multiple titles, as very rarely to players stick to just one game. What I found seemed to be about par for the course - most players are coming to Dragon Ball FigherZ with some sort of fighting game background, mostly one from Street Fighter, Tekken, Marvel vs. Capcom, or one of Arc System Work’s other titles (Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, Persona 4 Arena.) 

But not everyone was coming from those backgrounds, or from any background. One user in particular drew my interest. They revealed their competitive gaming background wasn’t in fighters, but real-time strategy games: 

“I actually have been into competitive esports since the early 2000s starting with Starcraft Broodwar, and then from there I pretty much played everything,” the user said. “Broodwar was my main game until Starcraft 2 came out and I switched over to that for a bit. Eventually I stopped playing SC2 in 2012 and started my long journey in the DOTA 2 world (which I still play almost daily).”

This strategy player claimed that their interest in fighting games only extended to watching from the sideline up until they saw Dragon Ball FighterZ come along, which drew their interest to get involved in something new and exciting from the start with a franchise for which they were familiar.

“I've been wanting to get into a fighter for a while now, and as a massive Dragon Ball fan this seems like the absolute perfect time to do so. I've casually followed Street Fighter V and Super Smash Bros for a couple of years, but never really picked either game up. I have some knowledge of the FGC community, but not much as some fighting fans. As someone who has played both RTS and MOBA games, I'm really excited to dive deep into a fighting game for the first time as I know there's probably a lot of history and strategy surrounding fighting games that I need to learn. DOTA 2 was getting a bit boring for me lately so I'm looking forward to the challenge of DBFZ.” 

With so many players coming from such different walks of life, is it that far-fetched to say that Dragon Ball FigherZ is the game that will bring fighting gamers and other new players together? While players who engage in more commentary than playing might say otherwise, the data shows that players from everywhere in the universe are excited to give Dragon Ball FighterZ a try. Maybe, just maybe, this will finally be the game that will bring us all together for the greater good. 

What’s your fighting game background? Do you have any, or is Dragon Ball FighterZ going to be your first fighter as well? Are you drawn by the developer, the intellectual property, or the gameplay? Let us know! Want to see just a touch of what you're in for? Check out our highlights of action from the  For me, the only fictional character I love as much as Ryu is Goku, so Dragon Ball FighterZ game has me as stoked as anyone. However, I wanted to see what other FGC members thought. We already know folks like Kumite in Tennessee winner Gilbert “HB | Punisher” Matos will be partaking, but what about the general population? I headed to Reddit in search of answers (and all I got was this lousy pie chart.) I asked around 75 members of the r/dragonballfighterz subreddit and other friends for their fighting game history, and they were very kind in going through their histories, as I did mine. Players were able to select multiple titles, as very rarely to players stick to just one game. What I found seemed to be about par for the course - most players are coming to Dragon Ball FigherZ with some sort of fighting game background, mostly one from Street Fighter, Tekken, Marvel vs. Capcom, or one of Arc System Work’s other titles (Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, Persona 4 Arena.) But not everyone was coming from those backgrounds, or from any background. One user in particular drew my interest. They revealed their competitive gaming background wasn’t in fighters, but real-time strategy games: “I actually have been into competitive esports since the early 2000s starting with Starcraft Broodwar, and then from there I pretty much played everything,” the user said. “Broodwar was my main game until Starcraft 2 came out and I switched over to that for a bit. Eventually I stopped playing SC2 in 2012 and started my long journey in the DOTA 2 world (which I still play almost daily).” This strategy player claimed that their interest in fighting games only extended to watching from the sideline up until they saw Dragon Ball FighterZ come along, which drew their interest to get involved in something new and exciting from the start with a franchise for which they were familiar. “I've been wanting to get into a fighter for a while now, and as a massive Dragon Ball fan this seems like the absolute perfect time to do so. I've casually followed Street Fighter V and Super Smash Bros for a couple of years, but never really picked either game up. I have some knowledge of the FGC community, but not much as some fighting fans. As someone who has played both RTS and MOBA games, I'm really excited to dive deep into a fighting game for the first time as I know there's probably a lot of history and strategy surrounding fighting games that I need to learn. DOTA 2 was getting a bit boring for me lately so I'm looking forward to the challenge of DBFZ.” With so many players coming from such different walks of life, is it that far-fetched to say that Dragon Ball FigherZ is the game that will bring fighting gamers and other new players together? While players who engage in more commentary than playing might say otherwise, the data shows that players from everywhere in the universe are excited to give Dragon Ball FighterZ a try. Maybe, just maybe, this will finally be the game that will bring us all together for the greater good. What’s your fighting game background? Do you have any, or is Dragon Ball FighterZ going to be your first fighter as well? Are you drawn by the developer, the intellectual property, or the gameplay? Let us know!" target="_blank">Dragon Ball FighterZ Beta!