EVO, the biggest fighting game event of the year, went down over the weekend, and in terms of news, perhaps the biggest announcement was that not one, but two games will be getting RRollback NEtcode improvements in the next 12 months. Don’t know what that means or why it’s important? I have you!
In online multiplayer games, a big part of allowing everyone to play together is the way the game registers everyone’s actions at once. When a person is in Canada If you’re playing someone in Germany, they’re both pushing buttons in their own homes, and the game has to take those inputs, apply them to the game, and let them play in a way that makes the whole thing look as seamless as if they were in the same room played with (or against) each other.
Different games (and different genres) handle this differently depending on how important speed and accuracy are is for the player’s experience, but a type of input recognition that is particularly important for anyone playing a fighting game – where every frame and every millisecond can mean the difference between victory and defeat –is called rollback netcode.
Rollback Netcode does not rely on waiting for everyone to enter before registering actions; Instead, both players can push their buttons and see Action is instantaneous with no lag or lag, as if they were playing offline, and in the pause between that and the opponent’s action, the game basically anticipates what was going to happen next. If guessed correctly, the game continues without anyone noticing, and if guessed wrong, checks are made to perform the other player’s action actually made, which sometimes means “teleport” a bit.
The very helpful video below, by Code Mystics, explains how Rollback Netcode works and how speed and accuracy are important in fighting games so superior more traditional input lag:
OK! Now that we’re all up to date on Rollback Netcode, you can understand why such a seemingly insignificant announcement is actually a big deal for fighting game fans, and why both of these announcements at EVO were so well received by fans.
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First time producer Tomoko Hiroki took the stage to announce that the upcoming versions of Dragon Ball Fighter Z PS5 and Xbox Series X|S get Rollback Netcode, as does the PC version, although players on the latter have the option of using Rollback Netcode (which comes with a slightly steeper system requirement) or sticking with Input Delay.
It doesn’t look like the upgrade will come to the PS4, Xbox One, or Switch versions of the game, though the last generation For PlayStation and Xbox versions, upgrade paths will be made available for anyone upgrading to newer systems.
When that actually comes doesn’t sound like it’s going to be anytime soon, as the announcement reads, “It will take some time for the system to be implemented, but we sincerely hope you’ll enjoy it as soon as possible.” More information will be released at a later date. Please wait for further details.”
The 2019 reboot of Samurai Shotdown received the same announcement, with SNK partnering with Code Mystics – the creators of the video above – to implement the upgrade. It will be released for the PC, PS4, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game (leaving the Switch back again) and is “scheduled” for Spring 2023.
