GamerBraves Newsletter vol. 27 – Rollback Netcode: Why Fixing Fighting Games Seems To Be So Controversial

Fighting games are fun, but the online scene? Not so much. However, rollback netcode seems to be the saviour for the online scene. For this week’s issue of the GamerBraves Newsletter, we’ll be looking at the phenomenon that has been changing fighting games for the better.

For almost anyone who has ever played an online game, ping should be a familiar term. Ever played Counter-Strike or DOTA just to see another player teleporting short distances? Chances are, that’s because of horrible ping. Bad ping is a side effect that many gamers around the world have to deal with, whether it’s because they simply do not have fast internet connection or because they’re playing on a server far away from home.

However, whereas most players can live with bad ping, fighting games are a different question. In a genre where inputs have to be absolutely frame perfect, a small delay can result in catastrophic consequences for players. For the longest time, the fighting game community was forced to deal with this. With the pandemic forcing nearly all competitions to take place online instead of in-person, fighting game developers have started to embrace rollback netcode—a feature that improves the online fighting game experience tremendously.

Of course, that’s a very explanation of how it works. To have a more in-depth understanding of rollback netcode, how it works and why games have been implementing or not implementing it, feel free to subscribe to our newsletter:

Give it a read and let us know what you think!