Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is just still in early access, launching in full tomorrow (October 11), but that hasn't stopped fans from pushing it to massive early numbers on Steam.
In fact, Sparking! Zero has sped past the peak player counts of every other Dragon Ball game — and it's not even close. SteamDB currently reports a peak player count of 91,005, which was achieved two days ago. As of the writing of this story, the game still has a sizeable amount of players (55,732 currently, with a 24-hour peak of 70,558), sustaining inarguably healthy momentum leading up to its proper release.
That's already impressive when you consider that's just players who shelled out $100 or more for Sparking! Zero's Deluxe or Ultimate Editions, which allow for access to the game three days early. But that number also doubles the Dragon Ball fighting game with the next-highest peak player count, Dragon Ball FighterZ, which topped out at 44,303 per SteamDB charts.
It's pretty major when you compare it to other major fighting game franchises, too. Street Fighter 6 had a peak player count of 70,573 16 months ago, while Mortal Kombat 1 peaked with 38,129 players on Steam 13 months ago.
That player count will only rise when those who purchased the standard edition of Fighting! Zero get their hands on it tomorrow, so it's worth keeping an eye on. In the meantime, check out our review in progress, where we said playing the latest mainline entry in the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series "feels just as much like a labor of love as the effort to resurrect the series in the first place."
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
