Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Is the Most Successful Dragon Ball Game Ever in the US

Even further beyond

by Robert Ramsey 5pm

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero always felt like an inevitable smash hit, but we didn't see it being a total and utter record-breaker for Bandai Namco.

As per the latest Circana report from Mat Piscatella, the brawler — which released last month, on the 11th October — is basically the most successful Dragon Ball title ever in the US. And again, just to hammer home how ridiculous this is, it only launched last month.

"After just one month in market, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero became the best-selling Dragon Ball game in U.S. lifetime dollar sales," Piscatella writes.

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Even more insane, Sparking! Zero is now third in Bandai Namco's all-time US dollar sales rankings, trailing only Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3. That's a flabbergasting result for the publisher.

So just how has the latest Dragon Ball title managed to dominate the market like this? Well, it's a combination of factors.

For starters, there's been a long-standing demand for an old-school Dragon Ball fighter. The games that Sparking! Zero is based upon — the Budokai Tenkaichi series — were beloved, and a deep-seated nostalgia has surrounded them for decades. Sparking! Zero is very much the triumphant return of that formula.

Next, there's no denying that Dragon Ball as a property has seen huge growth over the last few years. Dragon Ball Super and its various, very well received movies have catapulted the franchise back into the spotlight — and Sparking! Zero is one of the first Dragon Ball games to actually dive into this latest saga.

And then, of course, we have the passing of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama in March of this year. The legendary manga artist's death had a profound impact on the global Dragon Ball community, who rallied to celebrate Toriyama's legacy. It's fair to say that the sudden news galvanised and in some cases revitalised people's love for all things Dragon Ball.

Naturally, it also helps that Sparking! Zero is just a damn fun game, scratching that Budokai Tenkaichi itch with a colossal character roster and some crazy visuals.

Did you expect Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero to be such a massive hit? Patiently wait for those DLC announcements in the comments section below.

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[source bsky.app]

Robert (or Rob if you're lazy) is an assistant editor of Push Square, and has been a fan of PlayStation since the 90s, when Tekken 2 introduced him to the incredible world of video games. He still takes his fighting games seriously, but RPGs are his true passion. The Witcher, Persona, Dragon Quest, Mass Effect, Final Fantasy, Trails, Tales — he's played 'em all. A little too much, some might say.

1
get2sammyb
5:06pm

Absolutely insane results here.

2
nomither6
5:11pm

guess i’m outta the loop then because i could’ve sworn that fighterZ had a bigger splash than sparkling water zero

3
Balaam_
5:20pm

It sold over 9,000!

It’s a great game. I actually sort of love it, even if I would still say FighterZ is a better game. I just wish the story mode wasn’t so authentically a PS2 relic. This’ll probably sound crazy, but I wish there were more characters too.

5
rjejr
5:33pm

Not a fan of “total $” as this game is $70 on PS5/Xbox/PC and I’m guessing a lot of the older handheld games this is sort of based on were $30 or $40. So while it’s a big deal, I’d really like to see actual sales numbers and not worry about what DS games would cost in 2024 factoring in inflation. Yes I don’t like when movies do it either. I can only imagine what Yankees total attendance would be in say 1954 vs 2024 if it was based on ticket price. 🤑

Nice shout out for Bluesky, first one of those I’ve ever noticed here or anywhere else.👍

@nomither6 I would say that FigtherZ had a bigger splash cause of the competitive scene and Android 21. But Sparking Zero definitely saw bigger draw due to it being more casual.

@rjejr “ I’m guessing a lot of the older handheld games this is sort of based on were $30 or $40. So while it’s a big deal, I’d really like to see actual sales numbers and not worry about what DS games would cost in 2024 factoring in inflation.”

This game was base on Budokai Tenkaichi which was console games, not handheld games… So most likely $60. There was only ever one portable game, and that was on PSP not DS.

8
danzoEX
6:13pm

Tbh it was the nostalgia and hype of a new Budokai Tenkaichi title that helped this game win, cause once in hand, other than fighting online (which has its cons too), everything else to do with the game is very mid…. Especially the rushed, animated still images garbage story mode we got and the slow UI of going through the menus.

9
AfroMario
6:15pm

This game is FANTASTIC! The developers definitely need to fix some things and add some things, but if the base game is any indication of the care the game will get after launch, I'd say this game is going to be utterly amazing within a year's time. Currently tied with BT3 (or the great BT4 mod) and Kakkarot for best Dragon Ball game ever.

10
NintenGuy
7:46pm

Not surprising. Fighterz is more of a hardcore game. The FGC embraced it. SZ is easy for anyone to get into. Good to see both were successful. Dragon Ball is still massive in the US.

It is a good game, and I have enjoyed the the bit I played with my brother. But I honestly felt it could have been a lot better. Especially story mode. They spent over a year recording dialogue and yet I have to read everything there? Which isn’t a bit deal to me since I play a lot of visual novel-esque games and undubbed JRPGs. But I was really expecting so much more…

12
nomither6
8:48pm

@AverageGamer yeah your right , that makes sense

13
Matroska
26m ago

>"Sparking! Zero is based upon — the Budokai Tenkaichi series"
It's not based upon them, it's the same series. The Sparking series was called Budokai Tenkaichi in the West to tie them into the Budokai series for marketing purposes. You had Sparking, Sparking Neo and Sparking Meteor, which we got as BT1-3.

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