The long-teased Dragon Ball: Age 1000 project has been revealed as the highly anticipated 3rd entry
The mystery surrounding Dragon Ball: Age 1000 is over. What had been teased earlier this year at Dragon Ball Genkidamatsuri in January has now been fully unveiled at Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour 2026 — and the reveal turned out to be one of the most anticipated titles in the franchise’s gaming history. Dragon Ball: Age 1000 is Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3, and it is officially coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Steam in 2027.
A project years in the making
The original teaser for the game offered very little beyond two significant details: it had been in development for a considerable number of years, and the late Akira Toriyama had personally designed both the new main character and the foundational lore of the game’s world. That combination immediately generated intense speculation, with many fans connecting the Age 1000 title to a significant date in Dragon Ball Online’s timeline — a project Toriyama had also contributed lore to long before Dragon Ball Super ever began.
Those connections turned out to be more than coincidental. During Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour 2026, publisher Bandai Namco confirmed that Toriyama’s creative vision forms the foundation of the world and story for Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3, making it one of the most direct expressions of his long-term vision for the Dragon Ball universe’s future that has ever been adapted into a game.
What the game’s world looks like
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is set far into the Dragon Ball timeline, well beyond the events of any existing series entry. The game takes place in West City at Age 1000 and introduces an entirely new cast of characters, all designed by Toriyama. Players will be guided into the ranks of an organization called the Great Saiyan Squad, working alongside allies as the story unfolds in this reimagined future world.
Two new main characters have been revealed. Brett is one, and an unnamed female protagonist joins him as a player character alongside the white-haired Super Saiyan who was first glimpsed in the original Age 1000 teaser. Bandai Namco describes the experience as an epic story-driven RPG that takes players on an action-packed journey through a new universe and its cast of characters — a clear departure from the more straightforward tournament and battle structures that defined earlier entries in the series.
Familiar faces in an unfamiliar future
Despite the entirely new setting and cast, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is not abandoning the franchise’s history entirely. Piccolo appears in the background of the announced anime trailer, and Gamma 1 — introduced in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero — plays a notable role in the story alongside Bulma, whose presence at Age 1000 raises immediate questions given that she would not logically still be alive at that point in the timeline. Whether she has used the Dragon Balls to extend her life or traveled forward in time remains unexplained for now, adding an intriguing layer of mystery to the narrative setup.
The inclusion of characters with roots in the existing Dragon Ball continuity suggests the development team is working to balance the new world’s fresh identity with enough connective tissue to reward longtime fans who have followed the franchise across decades of manga, anime and games.
What to expect from the RPG experience
Bandai Namco’s press release framed Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 as a game that combines deep storytelling with the kind of action-driven combat the series is known for. Set in the vibrant and newly designed West City environment, the game appears to be building a more expansive open world than previous Xenoverse entries, though full gameplay details are still emerging ahead of the 2027 launch window.
For fans who grew up with the original Xenoverse games and have been waiting for a true successor, the confirmation that Toriyama’s direct creative involvement shaped the foundation of this world makes the wait feel considerably more meaningful.
Source: GameRant / Bandai Namco