Summary
- Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is the most-played fighting game in Steam history while still in early access.
- The game's success is attributed to the popularity of the Dragon Ball IP and its level of polish and accessibility.
- Sparking Zero boasts 181 playable characters across the Dragon Ball franchise and already offers DLC, with more content planned.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero recently became the most-played fighting game in Steam’s history, despite only being available in early access. Due to the strength of its massively well-known IP, it was already likely that Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero would be successful, but the game may become one of 2024’s biggest hits.
Originally announced last year, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero was released in early access back on October 7. While the title’s official launch will only happen later on October 10, gamers who purchased either the Deluxe or Ultimate edition of the game gained full access to Sparking Zero before the launch.
How to Unlock All of Jiren's Endings in Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO
Unlocking all three Jiren endings in Sparking! ZERO can be tricky, as both Strength is Absolute and True Strength have fairly confusing requirements.
Surprisingly, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero quickly became the most-played fighting game in Steam’s history during this early access period, reaching 90,186 simultaneous players. The new Dragon Ball game greatly overcomes the number of players in other popular titles like Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Mortal Kombat 1, which all peaked between around 38,000 and 70,000 players on the popular PC gaming platform.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Becomes the Most-Played Fighting Game Ever on Steam
While it may seem very surprising to see an early access game beating some of the best fighting games available on Steam, such as Street Fighter 6, the numbers make sense when considering why people love Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero. In the comments of a post on Reddit, multiple gamers commented on how huge the Dragon Ball IP is, along with praising the game’s polish and accessibility compared to other big fighting games. Also, Sparking Zero is the sequel to the popular Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, greatly recapturing the spirit of a beloved series from the past, which certainly helps in its popularity.
Early reviews for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero have also been positive, praising the game’s deep yet accessible gameplay, as well as its abundant number of fighters. With 181 playable characters, including several fan favorites of the Dragon Ball franchise, Sparking Zero clearly stands out for fans of the fighting genre.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero’s success is likely to guarantee support for the game for a long time, and players can already purchase DLC, including a Season Pass and two Anime Packs, as well as more cosmetics tied to the Ultimate edition. Recent leaks have also indicated that Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has DLC planned. According to the leak, the title will get a new DLC named “Martial Arts Pack” soon. Unfortunately, there’s still no confirmation of what the rumored DLC will include.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 86%
- Released
- October 11, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Spike Chunsoft
- Publisher(s)
- Namco Bandai
WHERE TO PLAY
DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO takes the legendary gameplay of the Budokai Tenkaichi series and raises it to whole new levels. Become a super warrior and experience the earth-shaking, limit-breaking power of DRAGON BALL battles!
Unleash the strength of over 180 fighters from DRAGON BALL Z, DRAGON BALL Super, DRAGON BALL GT, and selected DRAGON BALL movies, all in the base game! Each character comes with their own signature abilities, transformations, and techniques.
Make the destructive power of the strongest fighters ever to appear in DRAGON BALL yours!
Engage in heart-pounding, high-speed 3D battles that stay true to the anime and video game series, with breathtaking visuals and authentic combat moves like beam clashes, rush attacks, movements too quick for the eyes to see, and planet-razing ultimate attacks.
Challenge other players online to test your skills, or sit down with friends offline to hone your skills exclusively in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber! Fight your way to become a champion across various tournament modes and victory conditions.
Conquer the action-packed battles from the beloved original story, or discover and unlock new encounters for your favorite Z-Fighters and more. Relive your favorite moments from the series through cutscenes you can experience from the perspectives of eight characters!
Recreate your favorite battles from throughout the DRAGON BALL story, or set up your dream story battle with your favorite characters! Share your creations with other fans and experience the battles brought to life by imaginations around the world.
- Engine
- proprietary engine
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Dragon Ball
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Fighting, Action
