When you have a hit game, you want to boast about it. Why? Because you can! Also, it showcases that you and your team did something right and that many should respect all that you did. In the case of Dragon Ball Sparking Zero, many were expecting the arena fighter to do well, especially since it was to be the “spiritual successor” of the PS2-era titles of the franchise that fans love to this day. To that end, when it dropped, people were thrilled with the results. Sure, there were some issues, including certain characters being broken, but that got fixed eventually.
In a special report, Bandai Namco broke down some of the sales figures behind the game’s release in October, reaffirming the report that it sold over 3 million units on launch day alone! Then, in a different released statement, Dragon Ball Sparking Zero apparently had 90% of its sales come from North America and the UK. At first, that might not seem surprising, as those are two of the biggest gaming regions and the ones that many expect the biggest sales from.
However, you’ll then remember that the franchise is Japanese, and you’d think that the Japanese fanbase would go all out to try and play this game, especially since it features characters and events from movies that were only released in Japan at times.
To be fair, this isn’t entirely unexpected, as the Japanese gaming culture is much different from the ones in the US or UK. Specifically, they’ve moved to a more mobile-focused mindset, as Japan is the king of “gacha” titles and certain other mobile genres that make a ton of money there. That doesn’t mean there aren’t “big releases” on consoles in Japan anymore, as Nintendo can prove with multiple titles, but it does have to be a special one to get that community’s attention.
Even still, the success of the new entry is important for various reasons. First, it shows that Bandai Namco did a great job in not just creating the game, but promoting it. Using various trailers to highlight key parts of the roster was a clever strategy, and it made gamers interested in who might show up next.
Then, there was the depth of the various modes and ensuring the gameplay mechanics were as tight as possible. Gamers love the freedom within, and they’ve been playing all the modes possible to have the most fun.
Plus, we know there’s DLC coming, so people’s interest in the game won’t end anytime soon.
