The upcoming Samurai Shodown rollback netcode has been delayed once again, and no new release date has been announced.
In a post on X earlier today, developer SNK revealed that the update, which will bring rollback netcode to the fighting game's online modes, won't be launching in September 2023 as previously planned.
SNK says it's "deeply sorry" for this delay and acknowledges that fans have been "looking forward to these new features".
To soften the blow somewhat, a new community test is now planned for October this year, giving you another chance to test out Samurai Shodown's rollback netcode features.
The test will be held on Steam, and more information about it will be forthcoming in the near future.
Whenever the new release date for the update will be, it likely won't be until after October.
SNK says the new release window "will be announced in due course, pending the results of the above test". As such, you'll have to wait until the new community test is concluded for a concrete date.
This update has been a long time coming. At one stage, it was slated to arrive this past spring, before it was pushed back to summer.
When it does arrive, it'll bring rollback netcode to the game, a feature that many fighting game fans believe is basically essential for a high-quality online fighting experience.
In a nutshell, rollback netcode is a system by which a game essentially predicts players' inputs while they're playing online.
If the system's predictions are correct, the match continues as normal, but if not, the game state will shift to accommodate the correct inputs.
This system effectively ensures smoother online gameplay, resulting in less lag, which is crucial for a fast-paced genre like fighting games.
Other titles that use rollback netcode include Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and DNF Duel.
Famously, it's a feature that's missing from popular fighter Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which has led players to create their own rollback netcode mods for Nintendo's game, so essential is the feature to modern fighting games.
Stay tuned for more info about the Samurai Shodown rollback netcode update.
