Launching the Global Success DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO, the First New Title in the Series in 17 Years

Unlike highly competitive games where players compete to win or lose, the DRAGON BALL Z Sparking! series of 3D fighting action games emphasize a character immersion experience in which players enjoy battles by immersing themselves in the world of DRAGON BALL as their favorite characters. The latest title in the series, DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO, set a record in the history of DRAGON BALL games by becoming the fastest-selling title in the series with over three million units, reaching this number in the first 24 hours after its release in October 2024. The game is performing well worldwide, setting a record-high overseas sales ratio for the DRAGON BALL Z Sparking! series. Released in 2007, the previous title DRAGON BALL Z Sparking! METEOR was the pinnacle of the DRAGON BALL Z Sparking! series at the time. In the 17 years leading up to the release of the new title DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO, there had been changes in technology, video game platforms, and other aspects of the gaming environment, and we believed the current conditions would allow us to deliver new excitement and surprises. Thus, we focused on unprecedentedly impactful battles and detailed visuals to enable existing and new fans alike to experience the ultimate form of DRAGON BALL immersion. Furthermore, we assembled the largest roster of playable characters in a DRAGON BALL game to date, including the first appearance of characters from DRAGON BALL SUPER in the DRAGON BALL Z Sparking! series. Through this large roster, we fulfilled fans’ desire to play as new characters and pursued a deeper and broader character immersion experience.

Enhancing IP Value Through Media Strategy

The percentage of overseas players for the DRAGON BALL Z Sparking! series increased from the first to the third title, and the series is enjoyed by gamers worldwide, particularly in North America. Given these facts, for DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO, we first pursued a sales strategy of raising the anticipation of fans around the world who understand the appeal of the series. To this end, we used the DRAGON BALL Games Battle Hour 2023 event in North America as a venue to release the game’s announcement trailer, allowing us to reach fans across the world.

By revealing actual gameplay footage at such an early stage of the game’s promotional activities, we aimed to remind fans who had played previous titles how much fun the series was. The response was greater than expected, and our analysis indicates that the excitement of the fan community, displayed in such actions as their sharing of information on social media, created a buzz and greatly boosted the initial sales volume. Furthermore, to encourage sales not only among fans of the DRAGON BALL Z Sparking! series but also the wider DRAGON BALL fan base, we focused our efforts on providing product value that goes beyond home console games through inter-business collaborations. For example, for the Premium Collector’s Edition of DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO, we collaborated with Bandai Co., Ltd. and Bandai Spirits Co., Ltd. to package the game with DRAGON BALL SUPER CARD GAME FUSION WORLD cards and figures, respectively. Through releasing this special edition, we aimed to satisfy DRAGON BALL fans in ways that went beyond gaming. With these efforts, we executed a sales strategy that garnered interest from a broad range of people, including not only DRAGON BALL Z Sparking! series fans but also the wider DRAGON BALL fan base as well as potential fans. Furthermore, through our rollout of products created via inter-Unit collaborations, fans were able to discover products and services outside of their main areas of interest. We believe that the aforementioned activities have been extremely effective in spreading IP among an even greater number of fans.

Establishing a Global,Locally Led Marketing System

Regarding overseas marketing, in order to reach local fans, we are working continuously with local marketing personnel on information dissemination tailored to the characteristics of their respective regions, including North America, Asia, Europe, and Central and South America. While localization activities such as the multilingual translation of promotional videos (the main medium for releasing information) and other video content was conducted in Japan, the content was simultaneously released worldwide. Furthermore, the specific sales strategies of individual regions, such as the use of influencers to disseminate information, are advanced based on the ideas of local marketing personnel, which not only enables us to meet the expectations of local fans but also leads to the acquisition of new fans. We believe that this system, in which local marketing personnel proactively carry out marketing initiatives optimized for their respective regions, has been functioning well and that its results can be seen in the sales of DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO. We will keep adding downloadable content on a continual basis and performing updates such as balance adjustments and usability improvements based on the opinions of players from each region. Simultaneously, we will provide this DRAGON BALL character immersion experience to even more fans through locally led marketing strategies tailored to the characteristics of individual regions.