Late last week rumors circulated that Dragon Ball FighterZ featured the ability to purchase loot box-style Z capsules using real money. That’s not how it works, at least not currently.
The rumors sprang from a post on Resetera featuring a conversation with a player who had received an early copy of the game. Discussing his avatar, earned via the in-game shop, the player speculated that Z capsules—reward items containing random cosmetic items—could be purchased with real money. In actuality, the only way to earn the currency needed to purchase Z capsules is to play the game.
The loot system in Dragon Ball FighterZ is actually similar to the one in another Arc System Works-developed fighting game, Guilty Gear Xrd. That game featured a lobby where the player’s stylized avatar could spend coins earned through winning matches in order to fish for random cosmetic and player profile options—things like player avatars, icons, digital figures and character colors.
Dragon Ball FighterZ takes the lobby concept from Guilty Gear and expands it, essentially replacing a traditional game menu with a Dragon Ball hub populated by chibi characters. Players select a tiny Dragon Ball character and use them to navigate to areas dedicated to story mode, arcade mode, VS battles and such. Off to the left of the central hub is where players can find the shop.
The store is where players can spend an in-game currency called Zeni on capsules containing random cosmetic items—profile background, lobby avatars, character colors, titles and the like. Zeni is earned by completing in-game goals. Winning battles, completing story chapters or tutorial challenges all contribute to the player’s Zeni total.
One Z capsule costs 1,000 Zeni, with the option to purchase 10 at a time for 10,000 Zeni. To get an idea of how long it takes to amass Zeni, one versus battle against a PC opponent awarded me 300, while completing a mission in story mode netted around 150 (before bonuses).
That’s all pretty straightforward. Play the game, earn Zeni, spend Zeni on shiny things. What likely confused the issue, as documented in a post over on Resetera, is the second in-game currency, Premium Z Coins. With the word “premium” in the description and players being “guaranteed an item” when using them, the confusion is understandable.
But Z Coins aren’t currency players can purchase. They’re awarded to players when they pull a duplicated item from a Z capsule. If a player rolls the title “Martial Arts Master” and already owns it, they get a Z Coin instead. Ten Z Coins can then be traded for a unique (non-dupe) item.
Prior to receiving a copy of the game for review, I verified the functionality through Bandai Namco Entertainment America’s communication director, Denny Chiu, who said, “Zeni can only be earned through gameplay, there is no way to purchase Zenni with real currency.” And that’s how it works in the pre-release copy of the game I’m playing on Xbox One right now.
That’s how the shop in Dragon Ball FighterZ works right now—all in-game currency, nothing that can be purchased with real money. Of course these things can always change. Nothing’s stopping Bandai Namco from allowing players to purchase packs of Zeni or Z Coins down the line. But for now, if players want those color-swapped costumes and cute avatars, they’ll have to fight for them.