Despite its impressive sales numbers, the Steam player count for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has dropped by nearly a whopping 90%. Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero boasted a massive launch, selling three million copies within 24 hours. It has only been a month since the game’s release date, and such a drastic dip in player numbers would naturally cause concern. However, there is still good news on the horizon.
The all-time record player count for Sparking Zero on Steam currently sits at 122,554 gamers. These numbers have steadily been declining since this peak, but a drop of 90% on Steam is a surprising turn of events, since the game has been praised by many longtime fans of the franchise. However, the game’s positive reception still hasn’t cleared Sparking Zero of any issues. From problems with hacking and developer Spike Chunsoft’s desire to have the game fit franchise canon reportedly causing balancing issues, there are several factors that could be contributing to this drop. Thankfully, Sparking Zero has exciting things in store for 2025, as three DLC packs are scheduled to expand the base game.
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Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero’s Planned DLCs Bode Well For the Game’s Future
Reigniting Hype One Expansion at a Time
So far, Spike Chunsoft has three DLCs planned for Sparking Zero. The first two are set to arrive sometime in Q1, while the third is going to arrive at a currently undisclosed date in Q2. Although the launch dates for these expansions have yet to be disclosed, the impending arrival will likely bump up Sparking Zero‘s numbers once again. As of now, there are only a few additional characters confirmed for the upcoming DLCs, but official ads for the expansions tease over 20 new characters are expected to be added to the mix.
What We Know About Sparking Zero’s Upcoming DLCs
- DLC 1 (Q1) – Confirmed characters for this DLC are Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, with unannounced characters from Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
- DLC 2 (Q1) – Confirmed characters for this DLC are Glorio and Vegeta (Mini), with unannounced characters from Dragon Ball Daima.
- DLC 3 (Q2) – There are currently no announced characters for the third expansion, but they will also be from Dragon Ball Daima.
So, in the grand scheme of things, Sparking Zero already has an intriguing roadmap planned for the first half of 2025. While much of the details surrounding these expansions are a mystery, there are high hopes for Sparking Zero‘s DLCs, and the excitement for more in-game content will likely bring forth a surge in players. Also, if Spike Chunsoft continues to release expansions so regularly, this could help the game’s longevity overall, as players can expect consistency from fresh content each quarter.
Despite the drop in players,
Sparking Zero
‘s reviews on Steam boast “very positive” ratings.
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Has Plenty of Time to Improve
Addressing Player Concerns
On top of incoming DLCs, Sparking Zero is in its infancy as a game. Being only a month old, there is still a lot of time for Spike Chunsoft to potentially address balancing concerns and the controversial hacking. Although it’s understandable why the developer would want to make Sparking Zero line up with franchise canon, the overpowered nature of some fighters can also be frustrating. There isn’t a clear answer to compromise on the issue, though. Perhaps a separate mode that honored the character canon would work, but that could be difficult to implement.
As of now, there is no data on
Sparking Zero
‘s player count for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
It’s shocking to see such a high-selling game lose so many players in such a short amount of time, but it’s unlikely that it will stay that way as new content arrives. Of course, the all-time player peak may never be reached again, but Sparking Zero still has the chance to live a long life.
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