When information about the next installment of the Budokai Tenkaichi series was announced, the Dragon Ball fandom erupted with excitement, as the long-awaited dream finally became a reality.
Before the official release date, Sparking Zero has already captivated fans with its extensive character roster, stunning graphics, and gameplay improvements built on the foundation of the iconic game series.
Launched in October last year, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero quickly became one of the greatest successes of the brand in the gaming market, while also receiving numerous positive reviews.
However, the initial excitement did not last long. Player engagement has sharply declined due to a lack of new content, disappointing updates, and issues related to online play. Although Sparking Zero is not designed as a fully online game like Xenoverse, Bandai Namco has clearly focused on maintaining an engaged player community, with plans for a Season Pass and additional content. Nevertheless, the reality shows that players are already rapidly leaving the game.
According to statistics from SteamDB, the active player count of Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has sometimes dropped below 500, a number that is incredibly modest compared to the peak of over 122,000 players at the time of launch. It is important to note that this number is not the lowest recorded this week. On April 16, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero recorded only 476 concurrent players – the lowest in its history. This indicates a significant portion of the community has begun to abandon the game while waiting for new content to be introduced.
Although the second DLC pack is expected to be released in a few days, dedicated fans are particularly concerned that a lack of content may hinder Sparking Zero from regaining its attraction and reviving its previously vibrant player base. However, it is necessary to keep in mind that data from SteamDB only reflects one platform, and player engagement on console systems may still remain relatively high.
