SNK announces that Samurai Shodown will be getting a global playtest for its implementation of rollback netcode. Rollback netcode for Samurai Shodown was first announced at this year's EVO, the premiere competitive fighting game tournament. While the game was originally released in 2019, it had been using delay-based netcode for its online matches. For many fighting games, a stable online infrastructure is just as important as the game's mechanics, especially for the competitive side of the fanbase.For the uninitiated, rollback netcode is a feature that helps a fighting game's stability and improves upon its online functionality. This code helps cuts down the amount of delay and latency by quite a lot in comparison to other games that use delay-based netcode. After King of Fighters 15 had rollback netcode implemented, competitive players celebrated Samurai Shodown getting it as well. The first test of Samurai Shodown's new netcode will be taking place early next year.In a tweet from the official SNK Twitter account, there will be an open beta test that will be conducted for Samurai Shodown's rollback netcode, meaning gamers will have a free chance to try it out. This beta test will be taking place on the Steam platform, with the expected test window to be during January 2023. The announcement notes that this rollback netcode will be coming to the PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series versions of the game.
This announcement omits two versions of Samurai Shodown that were released, those being the Switch and Stadia versions. The Stadia version is understandable, considering Google is shutting down Stadia and it will officially go offline in January next year. Regarding the Switch version's omission, while a number of fighting games on the Switch do support rollback netcode, it's likely not many competitive Samurai Shodown players use said console to play the game.
Samurai Shodown is currently scheduled to get rollback netcode within Spring 2023, so there is an ample amount for the developers to refine the code after the open beta test. The code itself is being provided by Code Mythics, who were responsible for the GGPO solution and implementation of rollback for KOF15. Hopefully rollback will allow for more fans to try one of SNK's understated fighting games and improve the online experience for those who have been following since launch.
Samurai Shodown is available to play on PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
