We got a lot of hands-on time with games at Summer Game Fest 2026, but for a handful we got a live demo instead. While Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 wasn’t quite ready for us to get our hands on it (there is a road tour coming soon!), we did get to watch a playthrough on PlayStation 5 to showcase some of the exciting new features fighters will have to look forward to when the game ships in 2027. Let’s get into what Dimps, the same studio behind Xenoverse 1 & 2, had to show us.
You’ll play a member of the Great Saiyan Squad - a justice-seeking superhero team from the Dragon Ball universe, originally formed by Gohan and Videl to fight crime and protect the peace in West City. The story has jumped to AGE 1000, a far-flung future era whereby West City has become a massive hub for both familiar and new allies in the Dragon Ball universe. We’re introduced to a new character – a slim, white haired guy named Brett. Brett, hand-drawn by Akira Toriyama himself, is new to the Dragon Ball universe, but also an important member of the Great Saiyan Squad, who work together to protect West City. We also see Alma, the other character revealed recently, but without a great deal more information than a look at her animation and character in battle. Finding out what those characters mean in the world in AGE 1000 is one of the key features for Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3, so Bandai Namco was tight lipped about what role they’ll play until we can discover them for ourselves.
Immediately we see one of the central pillars of Xenoverse 3, the guiding star the team followed when building this game over the last 6 to 7 years – connection. The connection between you as the player, the new character, their connection to the original Dragon Ball Xenoverse 1 and 2 universe, and of course, their connection to this new city and its inhabitants.
In the brief gameplay slice, we also saw that you’d get to create your own character, but you’ll also have two default characters to choose from. The character we picked was from Earth, but there are many more to choose from when the game launches. Different stats are improved or reduced based on the race you choose, but we’ll have to get into that another day.
The demo started with our new character in their room. This will serve as your home base, and a place where you can further customize the look of your character at any time. Frankly, it’s a mess, but you can also tidy it up and make it feel like home. We have a request from Gamma One, so we’ll head out to pick up whatever mission they have for us. Leaping to the bottom floor (who has time for elevators?!), we head out into the city, passing by series mainstay Vegeta.
West City is a technological marvel in the Dragon Ball world. It’s the hub for the stories, and players will be able to find missions and experience the city alongside new companions. In fact, up to three different companions can join you on a mission like the one we saw, offering up a loadout variety to make use of in your four person squad to balance against tougher foes.
Heading out into the overworld, we prepare to fight. In pure Dragon Ball fashion, it was high-flying, numbers everywhere, bright colors, and chaos. With a blistering light and heavy attack, as well as super attacks, our character was downing foes left and right. Unleashing super attacks, we see that these can be customizable and chosen from a variety of options. They can even be charged, though they have a cooldown to use them again. To help charge your cooldowns, you can equip various accessories and skills that will help increase your speed, attack power, and more.
In addition to your super attacks, there are also a number of other abilities, including one called Soul Switch that allows you to borrow the power of another character temporarily. This includes the Super Kamehameha, complete with everyone’s favorite hair transformation to match. Uncorking this power rips into our enemies with a super powered attack. Without breaking the art style, it’s the best Dragon Ball Xenoverse has ever looked in motion.
We saw a variety of attacks, defenses, skills, shields, and more that we’ll be able to use in the wider world that Xenoverse 3 is bringing to the table. Combat looks fast and furious, and everything points to another awesome Xenoverse game coming our way. We don’t have a release date quite yet, but “some time in 2027” is the current window.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
