Eagle-eyed fans have spotted what could be proof that Arc System Works is planning to update Blazblue Central Fiction and give it rollback netcode.
UPDATE: Rollback is coming to both Blazblue Central Fiction, as well as Cross Tag Battle.
In a tweet (found via the r/TwoBestFriendsPlay subreddit), one user spotted that the Blazblue title is currently running a closed beta build.
Considering the game hasn’t gotten an update in years, there’s no telling what Arc System Works could be planning for the game, which was the last release for a mainline Blazblue title.
That being said, only one older Arc System Works game has had this treatment before, and that’s Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R, which eventually saw the game being integrated with Rollback Netcode, a move that breathed fresh life into the title.
As you can see at the bottom of the image, Branches are essentially different builds of the game. A new branch for Developer testing has just opened, meaning the game’s developers could be working on a big new feature of the game.
That being said as we’ve already mentioned- there’s no proof for certain that Blazblue Central Fiction is getting a rollback netcode update. But it’s definitely getting something, and a netcode update seems more likely than new characters.
The Case For Rollback in Blazblue Central Fiction
It makes sense that Arc System Works would want to do this- Guilty Gear Strive and Accent Core both use the netcode, which facilitates smoother play over longer distances.
As we already mentioned, including it in Plus R brought a surge of new life into the game. Meanwhile, Strive, which launched with the title was universally praised for the netcode, allowing more players to connect with each other.
Rather than develop an entirely new Blazblue, updating the already beloved Central Fiction would mean not having to risk some of the backlash that the developers got with Guilty Gear Strive thanks to its simplified systems and gameplay.