Despite its impressive sales numbers, the Steam player count forDragon Ball: Sparking Zerohas dropped by nearly a whopping 90%.Dragon Ball: Sparking Zeroboasted 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 forSparking Zeroon Steam currently sits at 122,554 gamers. These numbers have steadily been declining since this peak, buta drop of 90% on Steamis 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 clearedSparking Zeroof 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 Zerohas exciting things in store for 2025, as three DLC packs are scheduled to expand the base game.
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 hasthree DLCs planned forSparking 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 upSparking 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
So, in the grand scheme of things,Sparking Zeroalready has an intriguing roadmap planned for the first half of 2025. While much of the details surrounding these expansions are a mystery, there arehigh hopes forSparking 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 Zerois 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 makeSparking Zeroline 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 onSparking 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, butSparking Zerostill has the chance to live a long life.
