Goku has spent four decades as the face of Dragon Ball. The next big release in the franchise just handed that job to someone else, and his name sounds like a firmware update.
Meet J-Age, the white-haired newcomer leading the charge in West City in futuristic AGE 1000. He’s the new default protagonist of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3, the third entry in the Xenoverse series from Bandai Namco Entertainment. You can still build your own hero instead. But for the first time, the franchise has put a stranger in Goku’s old seat, and it’s treating him like the headliner.
The shadow of 291 episodes
Some context on what J-Age is walking into. Dragon Ball Z, the direct sequel to 1986’s Dragon Ball, ran from 1989 to 1996 and gave fans 291 episodes of Son Goku defending Earth in his adult life. Androids, magical beings and a warrior race headed by Vegeta all came calling, and somewhere in there Goku had to learn to be a father to his son, Gohan. No pressure.
That run turned the series into one of the greatest anime of all time and made Goku himself an iconic figure in the anime world. Four decades on from its initial release, the franchise is still going strong. It just isn’t putting Goku front and center this time.
A completely new Dragon Ball experience
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is an upcoming action-adventure RPG, first announced back in April 2025. The official synopsis said: “DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 3 is a completely new Dragon Ball experience, where you decide the hero you want to be in an unexplored future of the Dragon Ball world.”
You’ll battle alongside iconic characters from the franchise and can create your very own fighter while you’re at it. Akira Toriyama, the franchise’s late creator, is represented too: his most iconic characters appear as the Great Saiyan Squad makes its way through a whole new world.
Meet the white-haired newcomer
Fans got their first proper look at the game courtesy of a seven-minute gameplay presentation, and that footage is where J-Age debuted as the default Saiyan protagonist. If you’d rather build your own hero, that option still exists. But pick the default and you’re playing a character nobody has met before in a franchise built on 40 years of familiarity.
In the footage, J-Age teams up with three other members of the Great Saiyan Squad. The Soul Assist/Soul Switch ability lets you call on icons like Future Trunks and Vegeta for help, then transform into them and adopt their abilities. It’s the kind of edge that matters in certain fights as you explore the world and throw down in 3D arenas.
Circle 2027 on the calendar
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 launches in 2027 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, and it seems as though it will be as action-packed as its predecessors. Whether J-Age lives up to the man he’s stepping in for is the one thing nobody can promise yet.
Goku needed 291 episodes to become the standard. J-Age gets his first swing at it in 2027.
