Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO unveiled its upcoming Season Pass and DLC packs. The announcement confirmed the addition of more characters to the arena fighter game’s roster from the Dragon Ball universe. The announcement also included a schedule for releasing the DLC packs.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO’s entry into the gaming world continued its successful debut. The game was digitally released for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and PC on 11th October. The game’s release featured standard, deluxe, ultimate, and premium versions.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO reveals new characters and content
DRAGON BALL SPARKING ZERO WILL HAVE BOTH SUPER HERO AND DAIMA AS DLC!!! pic.twitter.com/OPOtSwNAha
— Extra (@Extralongdokkan) June 7, 2024
Bandai Namco Entertainment, the game’s publisher, revealed that the game will feature a new Season Pass purchasable at $34.99. The Season Pass is free for the game’s deluxe, ultimate, and premium versions. The Season pass will provide players early access to three of the game’s 2025 DLCs, currently identified as DLC 1,2 and 3. According to Bandai’s post, the game’s Season Pass will also have a bonus that allows the players to summon Shenron, the iconic, green-scaled Chinese magic dragon that answers one wish for its summoner in the Dragonball universe. The game’s ultimate edition also contains the summon Super Shenron bonus.
The reveal also claimed that the three DLCs would introduce over twenty new playable characters to the game’s roster. Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO was released with 182 playable characters on its roster on October 11th. Bandai revealed that the new characters would be sourced from the Dragon Ball universe, which was written and illustrated by the late Akira Toriyama. Bandai identified that the new characters coming to the game would come from the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie and Dragon Ball Daima.
The Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO announcement did not specify which characters would be added nor the timeline expected for their addition. However, it is speculated that Gamma 1 and Gamma 2 from the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie would be early inclusions due to their appearance on the official marketing paraphernalia. With no characters appearing in Dragon Ball Daima merchandise marketing, fans were left to speculate on possible additions.
Bandai confirms DLC release dates
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO’s DLC 1,2 and 3 are set to release in 2025. DLC 1, containing characters from the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie, is expected to be released in Q1 of 2025. DLC 2 and 3 will both feature characters from Dragon Ball Daima. In this setup, DLC 2 will be released in Q1 of 2025, and Q2 will be released in Q2 of the same year. No specific dates were given for the release of the DLCs at this point.
“Was thinking there’s still quite a lot of character slots left. Unless they include DLC in those slots I’m starting to think GT characters will be in the base game.”
After the announcement, players rushed online to debate on the revealed information. Most players were enthusiastic about using the added characters and which ones would be added in the DLC. Most fans stated that the game’s DLC and content would succeed if the developers adhered to the source material. However, some players criticized Bandai for using a paywall to remove players from some bonus features.
