Dragon Ball: The Breakers Release Date, Trailer, And Gameplay - What We Know So Far

"Dragon Ball: The Breakers" improvises on the survival multiplayer genre with its own anime-inspired spin. It's a 7v1 asymmetrical survival game between one Raider and seven Survivors, who need to cooperate to escape an island in a temporal seam before the all-powerful Raider wipes them off the map. 

Instead of running from serial killers and mythical monsters like in "Dead by Daylight" or "Friday the 13th," the Survivors run from Raiders like "Dragon Ball" villains Cell, Frieza, and Buu. Players can pick between these confirmed Raiders and others to be announced, but their exact powers and differences haven't been detailed yet. Survivors have a toolkit of special abilities that they can use to evade the Raider and, in a pinch, go Super Saiyan to fend off the Raider and buy time for their teammates.

Understandably, there's plenty to be curious about since it's a completely new genre in the "Dragon Ball" series. Here's what we know so far about Bandai Namco's "Dragon Ball: The Breakers."

Bandai Namco releasing "Dragon Ball" games isn't anything new, but it is one of its first times dabbling in the asymmetrical cooperative multiplayer genre. Most recently, the publisher released "Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot," a "Dragon Ball" action roleplaying game, in 2020 with a delayed DLC now set to launch in 2022. Understandably, this could be because of the developer's focus on "Dragon Ball: The Breakers" and its recent beta. 

Bandai Namco dropped the "Dragon Ball: The Breakers" announcement trailer on November 16, 2021, complete with cinematic sequences and gameplay snippets to illustrate the game's objectives. This latest "Dragon Ball" game doesn't have an exact release date yet, but it's set to launch sometime in 2022. That looks like a solid release window so far, considering the closed beta already occurred in November without any issues. However, the beta was only on PC, so it's difficult to predict how development for consoles will progress.

"Dragon Ball: The Breakers" will release for PC (via Steam), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Dimps and Toei Animation will work with Bandai Namco on the project.

"Dragon Ball: The Breakers" does have a trailer, and it immediately sets the mood with a smoking building amidst a fiery red sky. An ominous pile of clothes lies on the ground, strangely abandoned. A frightened citizen, an anthropomorphic pig, hides inside a building and retreats further into the room when they see a passerby running from an offscreen enemy. Cell, who acts as the Raider in the trailer, stomps into view before turning to the camera and punching a hole through the wall. He surveys the rubble before turning to leave, after which the camouflaged citizen escapes. 

Next comes a showcase of the survivors' and Raider's abilities. Survivors can transform into inanimate objects, shoot missiles with grenade launchers, and more to hide and defend themselves from the Raider. Meanwhile, the Raider transforms from a larvae into a full blown humanoid. His capability to destroy entire chunks of land and absorb people (thus the pile of clothes from the cinematic opening) makes him especially fearsome to the human survivors. It'd be something straight out of a horror movie, if it weren't for the bloodless, cartoon graphics. 

The Seven Survivors need to find five Power Keys, one for each section of the island, and place them in their designated pedestals in throughout the map. Once in place, the keys activate a Super Time Machine that can help the survivors escape the temporal seam. Meanwhile, the Raider needs to eliminate as many survivors as possible and stop them from escaping.

"Dragon Ball: The Breakers" features a vast, environmentally diverse map of five different areas labeled with letters A through E. Terrain includes craggy rocks, tree-ridden forests, and deep lakes, all in one. However, as the Raider levels up, they can destroy a section of the map to limit the number of resources and space survivors have. The Raider can even destroy the Super Time Machine, forcing Survivors to activate a backup time machine to try again.

Survivors win if all of them escape together on the Super Time Machine or its backup. However, the Raider can still win if it prevents even one player from escaping. Individual survivors can win if they escape without their fellow humans, but it won't count as a full win for survivors unless all of them escape or defeat the Raider.