Aksys Games released a concerning statement regarding their upcoming, annual Anime Ascension tournament. Unfortunately, the February 2019 event won’t be running Dragon Ball FighterZ, despite earlier promises. If you’ve been aiming to compete in, you might have to change your itinerary.
The publisher did not disclose the reason, however, the community overwhelmingly points to Toei Animation, who owns the rights to the series, and is notorious for being very protective of their intellectual property.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Dragonball FighterZ will no longer be run at Anime Ascension. We’re sorry for the inconvenience/disappointment! Please stay tuned for future announcements. pic.twitter.com/lLsUxQKicx
— Aksys Games (@aksysgames) December 21, 2018
The decision is a controversial one for fighting game fans for at least two counts: for one, many players, such as top player Yohosie, were set to compete in DBFZ at the event:
That sucks but I get it. Mind if I get a refund? I had already preregged
— Yohosie @ FrostyFaustings (@yohosiefgc) December 21, 2018
This is the 2nd flight I've had to cancel because of this. It's costing me money and time.
— Yohosie @ FrostyFaustings (@yohosiefgc) December 21, 2018
Secondarily, this seems to be setting a concerning precedent for DBFZ players: they are worried that the game will only be allowed to play at the World Tour tournaments. The title failed to make it into Evo Japan despite it’s enormous popularity, and was pulled in November at DreamHack Atlanta.
We will update the story if an official statement regarding this situation appears.
Source: Aksys Games Twitter; Yohosie