Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is the hyped upcoming fourth entry in the Budokai Tenkaichi series of arena fighters, as it's expected to feature a massive roster with an updated set of mechanics. While plenty of promotional material has been released following the game's initial announcement in March 2023, there's still no confirmed launch date. Fans have speculated that several different release windows are possible, but the rate of character trailer drops so far indicates a particular timeframe that the overall Dragon Ball franchise is no stranger to. With rumors of a launch earlier than some may anticipate, however, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is most likely to launch during one of several specific periods within the next few seasons.

A prediction can be made from the history of the past titles of the Budokai Tenkaichi line being consistently released during Fall of their respective years, but it's also important to recognize that Sparking Zero is serving as a long-awaited revival after BT3's 2007 release. It could still follow its predecessors, but it's also reasonable to assume that patterns set by the launch dates of more recent Dragon Ball games may be continued instead.

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Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Seemed Almost Certain to Launch in 2024

Sparking Zero's Store Listings and Release Rumors

Changes to its store pages, with it even being removed from the Xbox store recently, have some fans predicting that Sparking Zero's release date announcement could be impending. It's technically available for pre-order with several retailers as well, but they list it with the placeholder date of the final day of the year. While it's not always true, developers usually only begin taking pre-orders when the release of the title is a few months away.

An alleged leaked August 2024 release got attention and hype, but proved to be a faked image made by a fan. There has been recent speculation about Sparking Zero's ESRB rating seemingly indicating the game is ready to be shipped, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will be coming during Spring of this year.

The Most Likely Timeframes for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero's Release

The Potential for Fall 2024 or Early 2025

Given when previous Dragon Ball titles have been released over the past few years, Fall would be the most predictable time Sparking Zero could launch. This precedent has been set not only by all the previous BT games, but the long-term success that has been Xenoverse 2. The Raging Blast games and even Tenkaichi Tag Team all followed this trend as well, making it the most common time of the year for Dragon Ball arena fighters.

On the other hand, the likes of FighterZ and Kakarot have formed another pattern of launching early in the year. Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero's huge roster seems set to feature over 160 fighters, leaving plenty of time to show them off in chunks unless many are shown at once to speed up the process. Given the success of older titles and the rate that characters are being unveiled at currently, a release around February 2025 would also make sense.

It might be discouraging to face a longer wait, but this could be a blessing in disguise if it gives the development team the proper time needed to refine the gameplay and possibly include split-screen versus in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero after all. Several fans have instead anticipated a launch closer to July despite, as there's a history of other recent Bandai Namco anime titles releasing relatively soon after their first trailers are shown. Given the impressive visuals in trailers and scans so far and the discourse surrounding Sparking Zero's release, it's safe to say that it has a good chance of arriving no later than Q1 of next year.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero

Considered part to the Budokai Tenkachi series, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is an in-development arena fighter developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Namco Bandai.

Franchise

Dragon Ball

Platform(s)

PC , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S

Developer(s)

Spike Chunsoft

Publisher(s)

Namco Bandai

Genre(s)

Fighting , Action

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