By Sagar V. Mankar Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has emerged as a significant victory for Bandai Namco, particularly in international markets.
In its latest financial reports, the company announced that the newly released fighting game achieved “outstanding sales,” largely driven by its strong performance in international markets.
Released on October 11, the game sold three million copies in the first 24 hours. Although the publisher has not provided updated figures in reports, it did reveal that 90% of the game’s total sales were from players in Europe and North America. This represents a significant success for a franchise that is predominantly popular in the Japanese market.
This success comes as a welcome development for Bandai Namco’s entertainment unit, where Dragon Ball’s global popularity has also driven significant growth in its toy and hobby sector.
The company credits this success partly to collaborative efforts with the Dragon Ball Daima project and its social networking pushes in some regions and in-person events in others.
Moreover, Bandai Namco anticipates that sales could reach “pre-pandemic” levels, showing strong confidence in the game’s ongoing popularity.
The overwhelmingly positive reception can also be attributed to the game’s entertaining gameplay. On Steam, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero boasts over 45,000 user reviews with an 89% positive rating, highlighting its appeal despite some challenging difficulty spikes.
Before its official release, Sparking Zero already broke records during its early access phase, with 91,005 concurrent players on Steam. This number jumped to 122,554 players upon its full release, showcasing the game’s strong selling power, particularly among PC gamers.
However, despite its impressive launch, the game has seen a 90% drop in active players since its peak. This decline is common for games with massive early hype, especially those with strong multiplayer elements. Still, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero remains a commercial and critical success, cementing its place as a key title in Bandai Namco’s lineup.
Although the report did not explicitly mention its other latest overseas release, Unknown 9: Awakening, it did suggest that the game is not performing well in the international market. Released just a week after Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, it only reached a peak of 285 concurrent players, with currently about 50 to 70 players active. On Steam, it has received only 33% positive reviews from 151 players.
Overall, Bandai Namco’s digital unit reported sales of 228 billion yen, a 31% increase, with a profit of 44.7 billion yen, which is an impressive 188.39% rise, in the first half of the fiscal year ending in March 2025.