Arc System Works exploring options to add rollback netcode in previous fighting games after positive feedback for Guilty Gear Strive and Accent Core
Dragon Ball and Granblue Fantasy may face roadblocks, however
After years of requests from fans around the world, Arc System Works finally began to use rollback netcode in their fighting games with Guilty Gear Strive and Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R though it sounds as though they are not stopping there.
During the New Game+ Expo event this week, Strive Director Akira Katano revealed that ArcSys is currently in the process of looking at their back catalog of fighting games to see if they can update them with rollback as well.
The first question Katano was asked pertained to the positive fan reception of Guilty Gear Strive's open beta thanks to its strong connectivity and how that will impact other ArcSys games.
Instead of talking about what's coming next for the studio, however, the director looked to their past titles.
"As you guys know, we had Guilty Gear Strive which has rollback netcode now along with ACPR," answered Katano via his translator. "I know there's been a lot of requests for other Arc System Works games to install rollback netcode, and we're exploring those possibilities right now.
No specific series or entries were named in the discussion about rollback, but they made it seem like fan input might be among the most important factors for any decisions beyond technical limitations.
"I can't go into any specifics at the moment but we're looking at the requests, taking feedback from the community right now and determining which games we should prioritize in terms of bringing a rollback solution to it," said Katano.
The top of the list of fan requests for rollback are almost certainly Dragon Ball FighterZ and Granblue Fantasy: Versus, but unfortunately they may also be the least likely to receive the updated online treatment.
With Bandai Namco being the producers of DBFZ and Cygames footing the bill for GBVS, those companies will have the final say as to whether could even start the project.
Granblue at this point might be a little more probable since it's only one year old compared to Dragon Ball's three years on the market, but both games' communities have been near constantly asking for rollback before either of them actually released.
FighterZ Producer Tomoko Hiroki had previously spoken in the past about the difficulties of adding rollback to the game post-launch.
As for the fighting games that ArcSys has direct control over, Guilty Gear Xrd REV2 and the entirety of the BlazBlue series is certainly on the table with Cross Tag Battle and Central Fiction being recent, strong choices too.
Katano concluded by saying the developers don't know whether they'll attempt porting over Strive's netcode or GGPO like Accent Core, and it'll likely come down to what the game requires.
ArcSys also revealed new gameplay trailers for I-No and Anji Mito in Strive at NGPX along with movelist breakdowns for the final members of the starting roster.
Personally, I just want to see an updated version of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax with rollback on PlayStation 4 or PC.
