Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R Hits All-Time Player High After New Update

**UPDATE: A previous version of this story said the Rollback update had already been implemented, when in fact it was only available as a public test. The error has since been fixed. 

Guilty Gear Strive is no longer set to be the first Guilty Gear game to run the growing-in-popularity rollback netcode. In a new update, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R adopted the netcode for a public test, leading to an all-time high in the game’s playerbase since its launch in 2012.

Players can participate in the public test today, with the game being on sale to further promote it. As of time of writing, you can own the game for RM 6.20, discounted 80% off its original price of RM31.

It’s not currently known if the Switch version of this game will also get the update.

The update didn’t exactly fall out of the sky, however. It’s been teased for a while by publisher Arc System Works. The mentioned it two weeks ago via a tweet, announcing that current owners of the game would get to test out the new netcode.

Rollback netcode has become a hot-button issue in the fighting game community, especially with this year’s pandemic. Before its second cancellation, this year’s EVO was set to feature an online tournament that featured games that used rollback netcode. This includes games like Skullgirls as well as Them’s Fightin’ Herds.

Rollback Netcode, Briefly

Briefly, rollback netcode utilizes systems that allow for smoother matches between players who are far away from each other. It uses predictive calculations to guess what a player will do next, and “roll back” should the calculations be wrong.

Despite its benefits, many games still opt for the much older delay-based netcode. This works better in matches with more stable connections, but makes online matches against overseas players difficult.

As part of their initiative to listen to fan feedback, the upcoming Guilty Gear Strive is implementing rollback netcode. Due to the unpopularity of the system among Japanese developers, this was considered a win for the community.

Join Us!