The Dragon Ball franchise is in a really interesting place right now. This is primarily because Akira Toriyama, the creator of the series, passed away, and many fans, myself included, have been interested in seeing how the series moves forward from here. Since his passing, various new projects have been announced to ensure the IP lives on, and, on the surface, many of these projects appear to be treated with great love and care to keep his vision true.
With that said, I’ve been especially interested to see how the team at Bandai Namco would be handling the long-awaited Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3. Even though this isn’t the first game to come out since he’s passed, this is the first time we’re seeing a new era within the world of Dragon Ball that fans haven’t seen before.
For those unaware, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 takes place in the Age 1000. A point in time where Goku, Vegeta, and everyone we knew and loved are no longer around. With them out of the picture, a new wave of heroes has stepped up and taken it upon themselves to ensure the world is still safe from whatever may come up.
During Summer Game Fest 2026, I was able to chat with Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 executive producer Masayuki Hiranao-san. Throughout our interview, we discussed how the team plans to honor Toriyama’s vision, whether Xenoverse 3 will be supported for 10 years, as the last one was, and much more.
MonsterVine: For those who may be scared to jump into Xenoverse 3 due to it being the third game in the installment, what’s the elevator pitch to get newcomers to join?
Hiranao- san: Yes, it does have three in the title. But with the Dragon Ball Xenoverse franchise, we make it a part of our core concept to do something in the Dragon Ball Universe that’s never been done before. Never been seen before, experienced before, so I think we’ve achieved that with both Xenoverse 1 and 2, and 3 is not going to be an exception. So it’s going to be something very new and fresh that’ll be new for everyone.
Take, for example, the world setting of this game. It takes place in what’s called Age 1000, which is in the future from the normal Dragon Ball timeline that people are used to, and this is something that Toriyama Sensei has very carefully crafted and designed, because of that, even if you’ve played Xenoverse 1 and 2, the entire world and characters are going to feel very fresh to you, regardless if it’s your first time, or you’ve been playing it since one.
MonsterVine: How involved was Toriyama with Xenoverse 3 before he passed away?
Hiranao- san: I mean, he’s been involved in almost all areas. It’s hard to really pinpoint anyone. The biggest one is really this world setting that he’s established with the aged 1000 timeline; he’s done so much and contributed so much, like lore and documentation, beyond what we’ve shared so far.
So, because we know that he put a lot of that effort into it, we feel a responsibility to make sure we make a great game that’s delivered to all of the fans around the world of the Xenoverse franchise.
MonsterVine: The soul-link really stood out to me. This was because it allowed you to tag in iconic characters from the franchise to help out and, in some cases, become them. Can you tell me how this idea came to be?
Hiranao-san: You asked a question that I can’t go into too much detail on yet, but I will say. We’ve thought a lot about the logic behind how that would work in the rules of the universe of the Dragon Ball universe, and in Xenoverse 1 and 2, there was a sort of mentor system.
You know, you would go to the Hub and Island and work with your Mentor, but there wasn’t, I guess, a real sort of deep backstory to explain that. Whereas in three, this relates to the sort of age 1000 setting documents that I had mentioned earlier, but Toriyama Sensei thought really hard about how that mechanic would work in order for your soul to assist or change or switch, so all I can say right now is to look forward to future information reveals.
MonsterVine: Xenoverse always plays within the canon of the Dragon Ball lore. But with 3 taking place in the Age 1000, can we expect to see this as the conclusion for the characters of the canon stories? Or is this just a plot point that’s meant not to be looked at too seriously?
Hiranao-san: What I can’t say about that is, we’re paying close attention to what the fans want and what we want, and we know what that is. So, hopefully, we’ll be able to meet those expectations.
MonsterVine: Can you share some more input on how the Age 1000 came to be? Just because it could have been super easy for the team to use the Time Patrol again and rehash what it had done in the previous two games.
Hiranao-san: Xenoverse 1 and 2 between their releases. There was only about a year and a half, I want to say, but thanks to all the support we got for Xenoverse 2 from the fans. We were able to sustain that game for 10 years, which I think was really amazing. In doing so, I felt we’ve explored a lot of the possibilities of introducing gameplay using Time Patrol as a kind of narrative device or a backbone, and not to say that we’ve done everything that’s possible.
But for the Dragon Ball Xenoverse franchise, something we always keep in mind is to deliver a new experience. Players in the Dragon Ball Universe, so that’s why we wanted to do something fresh for this, and we thought about what is a new experience, in Xenoverse, that people haven’t experienced before. Since, with time Patrol, we looked a lot at the past, we thought, what if we look towards the future, and what that story might look like?
MonsterVine: Was it always the plan to support Xenoverse 2 for as long as you did?
Hiranao-san: Well, initially, before Xenoverse 2 came out, I was doing a press tour similar to this. What I had said to the media was that we’re going to support the game for one year. So, somehow, that one thing led to another. And here we are, 10 years later, but I think a large part of that was because the fans wanted it, and we could tell they wanted it so much.
So, it was definitely not planned, and it was because of the fans’ support that we were able to do that. In an Ideal World, we want to do something similar with Xenoverse 3 and have that community and environment, and also because. This is one of Toriyama sensei’s worlds that he had created and spent so much time developing. I would love to personally live inside that world as long as possible.
But I want other fans and players to want to be in that world as long as possible. So I see this as a journey where we’re taking Toriyama sensei’s creation, and we’re working on it. But in a way, the fans are working on it together. Like, we’re all in this together to keep this world as long as possible.
MonsterVine: Was there any fear of launching Xenoverse 3 because of how devoted players are to the second one?
Hiranao-san: When Xenoverse 2 came out, we still, for a while, continued supporting Xenoverse one. It’s not like we’re gonna suddenly stop service or live ops on it, and I see Xenoverse 3 as similar, where players of two will still have an environment where they can play the game. It’s not gonna suddenly stop.
That being said, we do want the community to be built around something. We foresee a lot of players from two wanting to go to three, and if you’ve been playing all the way from one. Kind of going all the way to three, so. We’re thinking about that. We’re still, it’s like in development right now. How are we going to manage the different Xenoverses and still have that sense of community?
MonsterVine: Has always given players a lot of freedom to create original characters. Dragon Ball Super has introduced many new species. Can we expect any of those to be in Xenoverse 3?
Hiranao-san: That’s one that we can’t reveal too much at the moment. But I would say the range of customization is both horizontal and vertical. If that makes sense, it is going to be much deeper and wider. New races are still TBD, but from Universe 2 to Universe 3, the range of customization is going to increase a lot.
MonsterVine: A lot of the time, when Dragon Ball gives us a look into the future, it’s always been grim dark. A prime example of that can be seen with Future Trunks, and whenever we’re given glimpses of what-ifs, it’s the worst-case scenario. One thing that caught my eye about this one is that it’s very optimistic: the world’s brighter, and the heroes are still around. I was kind of curious a little bit more if you can just share, you know, that tonal shifts of things aren’t bad. If anything, things are arguably better than they’ve been.
Hiranao-san: That’s another one that we’ll have to look forward to more details, but Dragon Ball, and it’s a great question. By the way, it’s a very deep question. The Xenoverse franchise is about protecting, and in Xenoverse 1 and 2, it is about protecting history. In Xenoverse 3, it’s about protecting the future, so I would say this idea of protecting something is going to be key.
MonsterVine: The reveal trailer showed off what appears to be Piccolo in the distance. Would it be safe to assume that we’ll see some of the younger heroes in a new light?
Hiranao-san: Age 1000 is over 200 years into the future on that Dragon Ball timeline. So, what we’re seeing is a world of the future, and I don’t know how many people can live 200 plus years, but that said, Dragon Ball as a franchise is not just about the earthlings. I mean, it’s like these massive battles between aliens and titans and different species and races. So, the sort of reality line that Dragon Ball establishes allows for there to be different kinds of events and circumstances that can manipulate situations.
Again, can’t go into too much detail there, but I think there’s going to be. Some proper and interesting logic that falls within the rules will be very enjoyable for players.
MonsterVine: Is there anything that I didn’t ask about that you’d love to spotlight?
Hiranao-san: Yeah, I would like to spotlight the new characters that are part of this Age 1000 lore and universe, and there are a lot of attractive, different characters that have their own. Characters, so they’ve got their own stories, and that’s something that Toriyama Sensei was involved in as well.
You can only experience it in Xenoverse 3. So, of course, there are familiar characters that I think everyone loves that will get their moment and their highlights, but I want to also draw some attention to the new characters that are part of Age 1000 as well.
