Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Smashes Steam Record Before It's Even Out

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.

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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Considered part to the Budokai Tenkachi series, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is an in-development arena fighter developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Namco Bandai. 

Released

October 11, 2024

Publisher(s)

Namco Bandai

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Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Engine

proprietary engine

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ESRB

T For Teen Due To Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence

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