Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is coming to PC and consoles in 2027

Bandai Namco has announced Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is launching in 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. The third installment in the action-RPG series moves the timeline forward to a futuristic setting called "Age 1000".

Developer Dimps is returning to handle the project. This is the first new mainline entry in the series since 2016. The previous game received nearly a decade of continuous downloadable content. It added dozens of characters and story arcs over its lifespan. The fact that a full sequel took this long is probably just a side effect of that unstoppable DLC train.

Moving to Age 1000

Players will operate out of "New City" in the year Age 1000. The narrative centers around joining the ranks of the Great Saiyan Squad. Players will again create a custom hero and fight alongside both new and familiar allies. The game will include original story elements and characters designed by the late series creator Akira Toriyama.

The shift to a future timeline is a deliberate departure from the previous games. The first two Xenoverse titles focused heavily on revisiting past timelines and correcting historical anomalies in older battles. Age 1000 provides a blank slate for an entirely original story.

Characters wear a new transformation belt with the Capsule Corp logo. The camera briefly shifts to a first-person perspective at the end of the announcement. This could point to a new interaction mode. The core loop of a hub-based multiplayer structure with online co-op and raids remains intact.

Leaving older hardware behind

The game will skip the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One entirely. It is strictly targeting current-generation consoles and PC. Dimps reportedly rebuilt the art pipeline from scratch to take advantage of the newer hardware. The goal is an aesthetic closer to a playable anime rather than the plastic-figure look of the previous game.

This mirrors the approach Bandai Namco took with Sparking Zero. Dropping last-generation support allows the developers to push the visual fidelity higher than a cross-generation release would permit. The hub city is also expected to be much denser and more populated than Conton City from the second game.

Wrapping up a decade of updates

Bandai Namco recently confirmed that Future Saga Chapter 4 will be the final expansion for the second game. That update arrives this summer. The community will have a few months to wrap up their current characters before the 2027 reset.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 originally launched in October 2016 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was later ported to the Nintendo Switch in 2017. Bandai Namco has kept the game alive with patches and character packs for almost ten years. A full engine refresh built exclusively for newer hardware is long overdue. Players have spent a decade staring at the same hub world. A change of scenery to New City is exactly what this franchise needs.