Last month Bandai Namco confirmed that standout fighters from Dragon Ball Daima would join Dragon Ball Sparking Zero via the 2024 arena fighter’s season pass — the final officially announced add-on for the title that resurrected the Budokai Tenkaichi lineage (Sparking in Japan) after a 17-year hiatus. Even so, the community is eager for much more.
“IS THAT A NEW MAP?????” reads a top comment on the Daima DLC’s YouTube trailer, with nearly 6,000 likes.
That level of excitement over a single stage underscores how hungry players remain for fresh content a year after launch. The new fighters are appreciated — my current main is Super Saiyan 3 adult Vegeta — but fans are loudly requesting additional arenas, alternate costumes, and new modes. The demand highlights both how successful the fighting game still is and how reluctant its community is to move on.
Image: Spike Chunsoft/Bandai Namco EntertainmentOne new stage may sound trivial, but to many fans it’s meaningful. The three DLC waves — one featuring characters from the 2022 film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and two adding Daima fighters — have expanded the roster to 208 combatants, yet First Demon World remains the only post-launch map. Several iconic Dragon Ball locales (Kami’s lookout, Kame House, Hell, and others) are still absent from Sparking Zero.
Modders have stepped in to broaden the map selection. On one of the game’s subreddits, posts showcasing user-made custom arenas and map mods have earned thousands of upvotes. Alternate outfits are another frequent request — while the game offers many looks, some fan-favorite or purely fun costumes haven’t made the cut. Most noticeably absent: Badman Vegeta.
Image: Spike Chunsoft/Bandai NamcoPlayers haven’t just waited idly — they’ve created reasons to keep playing. Daima-themed bouts quickly appeared in Custom Battle, where users design matches with scripted dialogue, roster swaps, and bespoke win conditions. One creator produced an alternate-timeline series called Invasion Saga, which spans multiple episodes and has drawn tens of thousands of views on YouTube.
It’s unlikely Sparking Zero will be abandoned by either its community or its creators. Modern Dragon Ball titles often receive long-term support: Kakarot continued to get DLC five years after release, and XenoVerse 2 has seen updates nearly a decade on. Even niche entries like the asymmetrical Dragon Ball: The Breakers have persisted in some form.
Concerns that content would dry up after the season pass were eased by October’s Over 200 Characters trailer, which largely summarizes the existing roster (yes, there are a lot of Goku variants) but also hints that additional fighters are planned, with further details expected in January 2026.
Image: Spike Chunsoft/Bandai NamcoMore fighters would certainly be welcome. Representation from Dragon Ball GT — like GT Vegeta or the Shadow Dragons — feels limited, and many characters from the early volumes of the manga remain absent aside from Kid Goku. Those eras could easily supply an entire season pass.
But what the community seems to want most are new ways to play. Additional characters, skins, and stages are valuable, yet new modes would do the most to extend longevity. Spike Chunsoft has experimented with limited-time boss encounters (current events include the Frieza fight), but those one-off events don’t always have staying power. Larger-scale tournaments, an endless survival mode, or even a pillar-style challenge akin to Mortal Kombat’s towers could meaningfully diversify both offline and online play.
Despite vocal complaints, Dragon Ball Sparking Zero earned positive reviews — and it remains a commercial success, having sold over 5 million copies. The game is also set to reach a wider audience when it arrives on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 next month, which should boost the player base. Beyond the confirmed additions, how extensively Spike Chunsoft will continue supporting Sparking Zero is still an open question — though more characters are definitely on the roadmap.
Source: Polygon
