Interview: Omatsu and Koto discuss Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle's Worldwide Celebration campaign

| Sep 7, 2022

Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle has been a mobile gaming staple for an incredible seven years now, and shows no signs of waning in popularity. It is currently celebrating its latest anniversary with the "Worldwide Celebration! The Strongest in the Universe Campaign", which introduces a type of Summon event.

We recently chatted with Omatsu and Koto, who work as producers on the game, about the latest update. Together, we discussed the campaign's details, how DBZ: Dokkan Battle's sizeable player base influences decisions and what fans can expect in future events.

Can you please introduce yourself and your role in DRAGON BALL Z DOKKAN BATTLE for our readers?

OMATSU: I am OMATSU, the main producer of DRAGON BALL Z DOKKAN BATTLE. My role is the general management and operation of the Japanese and International Versions.

KOTO: I am KOTO, the producer of the International Version of DRAGON BALL Z DOKKAN BATTLE. My job is mainly the development and operation of the International Version.

What kind of game is DRAGON BALL Z DOKKAN BATTLE?

KOTO: Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.’s "DRAGON BALL Z DOKKAN BATTLE" is an "explosive fighting action" game where you can enjoy exciting battles with many familiar characters from "Dragon Ball." 7 years have passed since its release, and it is now distributed in more than 170 countries and regions with over 350 million downloads worldwide.

In this game, you can enjoy stunning Super Attack animations and super quick-paced battles with simple taps on the screen. Moreover, you can relive the world of "Dragon Ball" through various events and content, such as "Story Event," with its original story and animation, and "Dokkan Event" or "Extreme Z-Battle," where you will face powerful enemies.

Can you tell us a little bit about the ongoing campaign and what players can expect from it?

KOTO: As the name suggests, the currently ongoing "Worldwide Celebration! The Strongest in the Universe Campaign" is a large-scale campaign that is being held not only in the International Version but also in the Japanese Version at the same time.

We hold a worldwide campaign every year around this time, and this year’s theme is the content focuses on the fierce battles with Cooler, the enemy character who appears in the movie, "Cooler's Revenge.”
You can relive the battles against Cooler through various events held in Parts 1 to 3 of the campaign. This allows those who have watched the movies to relive all the exciting moments, while those who have not watched the movies can experience the stories for the first time by playing the game.

I've heard this campaign is different from the previous ones. What have you implemented to make this one unique?

KOTO: The thing that really sets this campaign apart from previous large-scale campaigns is the introduction of a brand-new type of Summon Event, the "Legendary Summon Carnival."

The new characters who appear in the Legendary Summon Carnivals will not appear in the usual Legendary Summons. Instead, they will only appear in Summon Events that have the word "carnival" in their names.
Also, the featured characters of the Legendary Summon Carnivals will be more amazing compared to their Top Legendary Summon counterparts, so make sure you don't miss out on this campaign's Legendary Summon Carnivals!

Along with the implementation of the “Legendary Summon Carnival,” the schedule of the Summon's itself has changed. In the previous worldwide campaigns, during the "Dual Dokkan Festival," where two "Dokkan Festivals" would be held at the same time was implemented in Part 1, and the "Top Legendary Summon" would be held, where two characters would be featured in Part 2.

But this year, a Dokkan Festival and a Legendary Summon Carnival will become available in Part 1 of the campaign, and another Dokkan Festival and Legendary Summon Carnival will start from Part 2. Plus, these 4 Summon Events feature different new characters! In all 4 Summon Events, performing 3 Multi-Summons during the specified period will grant you 1 free Multi-Summon. Each of the Summon Events has been designed to be jam-packed with amazing characters, so don't miss out!

Thanks to its huge player base, the International Version of DRAGON BALL Z DOKKAN BATTLE made it to the 7th anniversary, which was celebrated in July. Since we wanted you to experience something new and fun and to enjoy DRAGON BALL Z DOKKAN BATTLE, even more, we decided to introduce a new type of Summon Event in this large-scale campaign. Please enjoy the Summon Events!

The campaign will last for the whole of September. Will there be enough content for players to work through during the month, or is the amount of time designed to give players more than enough time to complete everything?

KOTO: In order for all players to enjoy this campaign, we have divided it into 3 parts and we will add content step by step. The campaign will progress along the stories of the movies, so players will be able to enjoy it just like they were watching the movie.

I also believe this worldwide campaign will bring in new players and bring back some ex-players to start playing again. We have prepared a wide variety of content so that both users who have played the game once and returned and new users who have just started DOKKAN BATTLE can enjoy the campaign.
For anyone wondering if they can catch up if they start playing DOKKAN BATTLE now, this is the perfect time to start!

What are your goals with this new campaign?

OMATSU: The 7th-Anniversary Celebration, which ended the other day in the International Version, was of critical importance, due to the special relation between Dragon Ball and the number "7". However, we wanted players to enjoy DOKKAN BATTLE well long after the 7th anniversary, and that's when we realized that to do so we would have to spice things up a bit, or the game would become stale.

This means our main concern for future anniversaries will be to keep giving players something new. And of course, this large-scale campaign is a great way to start moving towards that goal. The previous worldwide campaigns were all centered around stories from the anime and manga like the Planet Namek Saga and the Cell Saga, so I'm sure that some players were surprised to learn that the motif this time would be from the movies.

As the Operation Team, we have worked together to prepare various content and to make the campaign even better than before, so that everyone can enjoy it to the end.
We hope you will play it fully and let us know your thoughts.

The game has over 350 million downloads. How does having such a large player base affect the way you approach planning campaigns and events for DRAGON BALL Z DOKKAN BATTLE?

Omatsu: We are very thankful to the large number of players who continue to play and support our game. Because so many people are playing DOKKAN BATTLE, we think there are as many ways to enjoy DOKKAN BATTLE and play styles as there are players.

All of us on the Operation Team are evaluating what to do so that everyone can enjoy our game. We are striving to not only implement various features but also carefully watch the reaction of players and try to/so that we may improve them accordingly.

Many people have played the game in these 7 years, but in order to make it even better from here on, I think we need to listen to the opinions of players and reflect them in the game, even if these changes can only be implemented little by little. That's why we also hold player surveys.

Given that you've tried to make this campaign different from those you've held previously, what can players expect from campaigns and events in the future?

Omatsu: As we have reached the 7th-anniversary milestone, we hope to offer a variety of new experiences from this point forward.

However, our goal is not just to create something new but to retain what has been familiar and to keep an eye on what users would like to see renovated.

I hope we can work together with our users to create a better direction while observing their reactions so that more people can continue to use the service for a long time.