Published , by Ozzie Mejia
Published , by Ozzie Mejia
It's been an amazing couple of years for the Dragon Ball Z franchise and the world of video games. While publisher Bandai Namco is focusing on doing the property justice in the world of RPGs, let's not forget how they managed to pull off the same feat for fighting games just last year. Dragon Ball FighterZ was one of the most memorable games of 2018, both for casual fans and for the realm of esports. Both sides will be excited to hear that Dragon Ball FighterZ will be returning with a second World Tour.
First teased earlier in the month, Bandai Namco came out this week to confirm that the Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour would indeed return. Following an exciting first season, this second round for DBFZ esports is set to begin at the end of this month at the CEO Fighting Game Championships in Daytona Beach, Florida. This year will operate a little differently with the tour only offering three winner-take-all Saga events. The season finals will have its other 13 slots filled through point standings, offline "Tenkaichi Events," and the Last Chance Qualifier. The three Saga events are EVO 2019, the Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour Red Bull Saga Spain, and the Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour Red Bull Saga Japan, with the winners getting automatic entries into the season finals in France. Defending champion Ryota "Kazunoko" Inoue will undoubtedly be the favorite heading into this new season.
This spells a bright future for Dragon Ball FighterZ esports after a brief scare at the end of last year. FighterZ had seen itself pulled from various shows, raising concerns that parent company Toei Animation had stepped in to put a stop to DBFZ esports exhibitions. These concerns were laid to rest by Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada at the end of December, in an announcement that also confirmed he had taken over as supervisor of the Bandai Namco Fighting Game Esports Strategy team.
The full schedule for this second season of the DBFZ World Tour has not been finalized, but look for the action to begin at CEO 2019. That event will run from June 28-30. More information can be found on the Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour website. And for more on Dragon Ball FighterZ itself, be sure to check out our Year 1 retrospective with producer Tomoko Hiroki.