For fans of Dragon Ball FighterZ, the past week or so has been dominated by talk regarding the game not appearing in a number of upcoming tournaments. The popular theory is that this is because Toei Animation, the studio behind the Dragon Ball anime franchise, is blocking these tournaments.
Replying to a tweet from a fan, Toei Animation has responded to this speculation by stating that they aren’t the cause for these tournaments not hosting Dragon Ball FighterZ.
Apologies, but we have no knowledge about preventing DBFZ tournaments.
— Toei Animation (@ToeiAnimation) December 26, 2018
Of course, with this clarification, the question still remains of why Dragon Ball FighterZ isn’t at these tournaments. The possible explanation could lie in the fact Toei Animation is simply just one of the entities involved with the franchise, other companies are also involved in other various aspects of the franchise. Noted fighting game commentator and attorney David “UltraDavid” Graham has pointed out it could be an issue from one of these other holders.
Like I said, there are lots of rights holders involved. Could be a rights issue from some other angle instead
— Regular UltraDavid (@ultradavid) December 26, 2018
Sources: Toei Animation; UltraDavid