Summary
- Spike Chunsoft is penalizing quitters in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero ranked matches by implementing longer timeout penalties.
- This should address player complaints about the game's online experience.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero players who tend to duck out of online matches before they're over may want to reconsider their ways, as the development team behind the fighting game is starting to take action against them. Ranked matches in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero have been one of the major points of criticism from its player base, and Spike Chunsoft is now making moves to make it a fairer community for everyone.
A revival of the popular Budokai Tenkaichi series that saw three mainline releases in the 2000s, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has made franchise history, becoming the highest-selling game in the Dragon Ball franchise in the United States, the third best-selling Bandai Namco game of all time, and the fourth best-selling video game in 2024 so far. That's not surprising, considering it sold more than 3 million copies in its first 24 hours on the market.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Survey Hints at Future DLC
A Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero player survey from Bandai Namco could reveal what direction the popular fighting game heads in next.
Despite its impressive initial numbers, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero's player count on Steam dropped by nearly 90 percent one month after launch, which may have been tied to complaints about various problems with online multiplayer. A message to the community posted to the game's official Twitter account indicates that the development team will be monitoring players with "excessive disconnection or quitting rates" in the game's online matches. While the post doesn't get into specific numbers, players who are found to be quitting matches or disconnecting too often will be penalized with longer timeout penalties, blocking them from entering new online matches for set periods of time. Some players feel this action isn't enough, asking Spike Chunsoft to hand players a loss for any match from which they quit or disconnect.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Devs Crack Down on Quitters
The presence of quitters in online matches is only one of the common complaints about Ranked matches in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero. Players have also expressed frustration about the game's balancing of its massive roster, complaining that Ranked Mode matches heavily favor a small number of high-tier characters, especially fusion characters and those with four health bars. This problem has led to grumbling from the community not only because it limits the number of characters who are likely to succeed in matches but because of the lack of variety in characters they tend to fight against, as most players trying to win are selecting from a very limited sliver of the roster.
Cheating has also affected the perceived quality of the game's online matches. Less than a week after the game's launch, the community was already abuzz about players in Ranked Mode using mods to cheat in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero. Spike Chunsoft responded to the issue of cheating through the use of mods in late October, threatening bans against any players caught cheating.
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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
- How Long To Beat
- 11 hours
- How Long To Beat (Completionist Runs)
- 80 Hours
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
