Dead or Alive 6 Last Round Re-Release Sparks Backlash Over DLC Changes
Dead or Alive 6: Last Round, a re-release of the 2019 fighting game, launched just last week. The move has immediately rubbed many players the wrong way, not only because it’s a fresh release, but because the original version was also removed from digital storefronts—an action fans typically don’t react well to when they’ve already purchased the game.
After 405 reviews on Steam, Last Round has settled into a “Mostly Negative” rating. Feedback centers on missing elements that players expected to be included, alongside complaints that content previously owned is now being locked behind new purchases or restrictions.
Dead or Alive 6: Last Round Hasn’t Landed With Players
Two of the most frequently cited absences are crossplay and rollback netcode. Crossplay would let people queue up against others regardless of platform, while rollback is designed to reduce the impact of online connection delay by correcting prediction errors during matches.
One Steam reviewer put it bluntly, saying the “least you could do” was to restore characters players already owned, pointing to how previous releases handled this in the Dead or Alive 5 series. They also argued that basic support for crossplay and rollback should have been included at minimum.
Last Round is priced at $40, and it adds five extra playable characters—Nyotengu, Phase 4, Momiji, Rachel, and Tamaki—that were not part of the original base game.
Most content appears to carry over, but Team Ninja later clarified that the characters Mai Shiranui and Kula Diamond (along with their costumes) will not be transferable to Last Round. Instead, players will need to pay $11 per character, with the cost described as higher than what those characters were priced at in the original release, where they were listed for $8.
Mai and Kula both originate as crossover characters tied to SNK’s The King of Fighters series. That connection is likely the reason they can’t simply be carried into what is being treated as a new version of the game.
On top of those concerns, players are also frustrated by the addition of features like photo mode, calling them unnecessary when bigger, expected upgrades—specifically crossplay and rollback—aren’t present.
One reviewer summed up the frustration by describing the situation as insulting, arguing that the franchise is being treated like a “coomer” property and that the release is aiming for the bare minimum. They also stated they love Dead or Alive, but can’t imagine it becoming a reasonably solid fighting game under those circumstances, saying their review won’t change until at least something meaningful improves.
With all that in mind, it’s not surprising that fans are disappointed. Many were hoping for a more substantial evolution from the series, especially given that the franchise hasn’t seen a brand-new mainline release since 2019.
