Jump Force being sunsetted could mean something bigger for the future

In other news to put directly into my “why I usually buy physical” folder, Bandai Namco announced via their blog that their fighting game Jump Force is to be “sunsetted”. For those in their twenties or younger, that’s the fancy business slang for “yeeted.”

If you slept on it, Jump Force is a fighting game that takes anime/manga characters from popular franchises owned by Shonen Jump and creates a crazy dimensional merging story in which these characters have to work together to stop a weird evil. Characters from Dragon Ball, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, One Piece, My Hero Academia, and even Yu-Gi-Oh are playable here. And the game is kinda fun despite the graphics engine which tries to render them realistically while still allowing them to keep their signature look turning Luffy into a pure nightmare engine.

What does this mean, exactly? Well, the physical copy is no longer going to be produced. Starting on February 7, 2022, the physical copy is no longer going to be sold. Or, if you’re a Gamestop employee, it means you’re going to take all the mint physical editions you have in stock and will be relabeling them as used.

This also goes for the digital versions. Since digital versions do not have any sort of real-world presence, the “used game” service won’t save it. It’s just going to disappear completely from the store along with its ridiculous amounts of DLC content.

Now, what does this mean for people who own the game? Well, a few things. First off, after that date hits, you will not be able to purchase any of the DLC characters. This will especially affect My Hero Academia fans as 75% of the characters from that particular franchise are DLC only. The game gives you Midoriya, but if you want Bakugo, Todoroki, and even All Might, you need to snag them now. There are also other DLC characters you might want to snag like Majin Buu for the DBZ heads, Trafalgar D. Water Law for One Piece fans, Giovanna for Jojo fans, and Seto Kaiba for people with zero taste. There are a few more too.

You’ll be able to keep the characters you have already purchased but you won’t be able to purchase new ones after that date.

It will also affect how you play online. In August 2022, more of the features will be shut down, including multiplayer lobbies, clans, leaderboards, ranked battles and more. The only three features that will be available are the story mode (which honestly, was kind of fun), online non-ranked battles, and DLC that you’ve already purchased prior.

So what could this mean as well? Well, I suspect that both physical and digital versions of the game are going to change in price. I feel like the businesses are going to watch as to whether or not this news makes people rush out to get the game in a panic and choose whether to put the game on sale or raise the price. I can almost promise you the price of the game will go up at Gamestop this week (I say this as someone who spent years being stuck as the guy working the night of price changes).

I can almost promise the DLC price is going to drop though, so if you did have interest in the game, you might be able to snag all the DLC characters when it dips and save them for a rainy day fighting game.

There’s a lot of speculation as to why Bandai Namco decided to pull the plug on this game. These kind of games normally sell well but don’t DO well, if that makes sense. They sell because fans are hyped but never meet expectations. Even the One Punch Man game (which I thought was actually somewhat brilliant) faded away with little fanfare. So, with a few years under its belt, they probably just think it’s not financially viable to keep it up.

I got my own theory but it’s a massive shot in the dark so get your tinfoil hats on, kids. Remember how everyone wanted Goku in Smash (for some reason)? Well, right now it seems like so many people and companies are trying to make Smash Bros. knockoffs that, if by the end of 2023 I’m not using Progressive’s Flo to fight the Aflac duck, I’m gonna be disappointed.

What if Bandai Namco is going to work on one of those? It wouldn’t be the first time a developer has removed prior games to get people to buy their new ones. Hell, Rockstar just removed all the classic Grand Theft Auto games from storefronts because they want people to buy the remasters and have no other options. Maybe this is that but for weebs?

You could have a Smash Bros-type game featuring their available anime/manga franchises. Luffy from One Piece could be punching across the stage like Min-min, Doku would basically be Lucario, and the combo of Light and Ryuk from Death Note could play like Joker from Persona. It would be perfect.

That’s my guess/hope but we’ll see. But while we’re thinking about what’s next, if you have any interest in this game, this might be the best time to snag it.