Update:Responding to a request for a statement, a representative for Aksys Games noted that:

“Aksys is not commenting on the DBFZ decision further than their tweet.”

While a no-statement is often not worth following up on, it should raise eyebrows in this situation – it doesn’t appear on the surface that this is a mere issue with scheduling that would be easily relayed. However, until we can hear from Bandai Namco, take everything with a grain of salt.

Original story following:

The hit fighting game of this year,ÂDragon Ball FighterZ, is running into some issues recently in the esports world. Major tournamentssuch as EVO Japanand (most recently) Anime Ascension are not running tournaments for the fighter, leaving speculation as to why:

Many fans seem to be pointing the blame at Toei, the license holder forDragon Ball. For those that aren’t aware of how protective Toei is, the company once hadÂJapan’s Embassy write a note to Mexico’s Government to prevent an illegal broadcast ofÂDragon Ball Superfrom being publicly displayed in Mexico. So the possibility that Toei could be putting the breaks on non-officialDragon Ball FighterZÂtournaments to protect their IP, is not surprising.

What’s interesting is this is all happening in the midst of theÂDragon Ball FighterZ World Tour, Bandai Namco’s official esports tour for the fighting game. That tournament series itself is getting some flack due to the fact you need to win a Dragon Ball in the tournament to qualify for the finals. That would be fine if the fact that player Kazunoko did some gatekeeping and won four of the possible seven. This resulted in now four last chance qualifiers happening simultaneously to get some players to fill the finals.

The fact that tournaments are being shut down left and right, it makes me wonder how much longer willÂDragon Ball FighterZ have a competitive scene. And with Arc System Works games likeÂGranblue Fantasy Versus andÂKill la Kill The Game: IFÂon the horizon; I wonder if competitors are going to hop off the nimbus and pick up another anime fighter.

Dragon Ball FighterZÂis still listed as an event atÂCombo Breaker, but we’ll have to see if that tournament follows the same fate. In the meantime,ÂDragon Ball FighterZÂis currently available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and you can check outthe DualShockers review. If you aren’t too concerned about the competitive scene, you cangrab the game on Amazonnow.

DualShockers has reached out to Bandai Namco, Arc System Works, and Aksys for comment.