New Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Rating Could Be Bad News For Future Characters

Summary A revised ESRB rating for Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero indicates in-game purchases of some kind.

Bandai Namco's microtransaction history raises concerns about potential Season Pass content in Sparking! Zero.

Microtransactions could simply be new character additions, or it could be something cosmetic in nature.

The upcoming arrival of Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero may have gotten a small bump in the road, as revealed by its revised ESRB rating. The new rating indicates that in-game purchases will be a part of the title, which could pose a problem for those who wish to get everything out of the fighting game without paying extra cash for things they don't desire.

The revelation was caught by X (formerly Twitter) user Sparking, who posted side-by-side pictures of the official ESRB rating for Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero. The one on the left – Sparking! Zero's original rating – made no mention of microtransactions, but instead referenced blood in the game.

However, the blood warning is gone in the newly revised ESRB rating, and in-game purchases are included. This raises questions about what Bandai Namco aims to put into the title both before and after launch to require microtransactions. The most immediate concern is that microtransactions could affect the availability of new characters added to Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero after launch.

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Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Microtransactions May Restrict Post-Launch Content

Tekken 8 Proves Bandai Namco's Monetization Practices

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For example, games like Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and more have Season Pass content, which brings in new fighters on a regular basis to the titles. Capcom's first Season Pass for its fighting game recently ended with the arrival of Akuma, with Season 2 likely to be announced soon. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate had two Fighter Passes and brought in several fan-favorite characters into the mix, like Sora, Byleth, Sephiroth, Kazuya Mishima, and Joker.

The fear of microtransactions likely ties into what Bandai Namco did recently with Tekken 8. The fighting game's launch was highly anticipated and received acclaim from critics. However, not long after launch, Bandai Namco dropped not only the Season Pass content but also the Tekken Fight Pass and Tekken Shop, where people would have to pay an extra fee to get premium content. The reception to this was not positive and casts a shadow over Bandai Namco's upcoming title.

Given the wide roster of characters Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero has already shown off, with more to come, it's entirely fair to speculate that the game would have at least one Season Pass full of characters. In the game Dragon Ball FighterZ, 20 DLC characters were added after launch. With Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, there have been 17 DLC packs for the title that have featured characters across the series' history. As such, it's impossible to know what Bandai Namco will do with Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero's microtransactions until it's officially announced, even if restricting post-launch characters seems the most likely.

Source: Sparking/X