It’s Officially The End Of An Era For Dragon Ball Z

Published Sep 2, 2026, 6:30 PM EDT Ben Brosofsky has been writing for Screen Rant since 2022 and editing since 2024. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor's in Cinema & Media Arts. Writing serves as a much-needed distraction from tackling a backlog of Steam games that will never be surmounted. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Dragon Ball Z might be over, but the franchise's legacy has continued in plenty of other forms. One particularly big destination for fans is the array of Dragon Ball video games, from the Dragon Ball Xenoverse fighting games to the RPG Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. In the free-to-play realm, Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra has attracted plenty of fans over the past year, but it's also been subject to plenty of criticism. Now, the game as we know it is about to hit its expiration date, as developer GANBARION and publisher Bandai Namco are planning an overhaul that will change the experience forever. Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra Is Changing Forever Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra revealed a year-end overhaul in an announcement video on YouTube this week, with a developer letter on the official Gekishin Squadra website going into more detail about the planned changes. The letter explains that the current game often presents new players with "lopsided matches and a high barrier to competitive play" due to its "strategic depth and knowledge-based mechanics," which could create a frustrating experience. As a result, the game will soon look very different, with the most dramatic change coming in the form of a perspective shift from top-down to third-person gameplay. Rules will also be adjusted to favor action-packed gameplay, and the role system will be simplified to make it easier for players to simply choose the characters they like. Customization, meanwhile, will be expanded and implemented in a more noticeable way. Dragon Ball Is Leaving Some Fans Behind The Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra development team acknowledges that this could be unwelcome news to some fans of the game, noting that the decision was not "made lightly" and that they're aware "there may be potential ramifications." On social media, criticism has been widespread, as most responses to the news are coming from dedicated players who enjoy the game in its current state. By and large, critics are arguing that the changes will alienate existing fans in favor of reaching a community that may not even be interested in playing. All of these changes will clearly lower the barrier to entry, but there's no guarantee that those who were turned off to begin with will even know that any of this is happening, while those who like the game as it is could end up drifting away. For anyone who loves the game in its current form, the overhaul of Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra will be the end of an era, and it's an unfortunate reminder that live-service games often turn into totally different experiences than the ones fans fell in love with to begin with. The development team is promising to pay attention to community feedback, so there's still some hope that the changes might be cut back before they actually go through. Either way, though, it seems unlikely that Dragon Ball Gekishin Squadra will avoid some kind of radical overhaul. Systems Released September 9, 2025 ESRB Teen / Blood, Violence Developer(s) Ganbarion Publisher(s) Bandai Namco Entertainment Multiplayer Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op Cross-Platform Play All platforms Cross Save All platforms (some limits)