Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi Leak Gives Fans Update on New Game

At long last, Dragon Ball Z fans may have finally learned a bit more about the new Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi game that Bandai Namco announced back in March. Unofficially dubbed “Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 4” since the last mainline one Bandai Namco left off with was Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 which came out way back in 2007, it looks like this latest leak may have finally given the return of the fighting game series an actual name. Bandai Namco trademarked something called “Sparking! Zero,” and if the discovery of that trademark is any indication of what’s to come, we’ll hopefully be hearing about the new game very soon.

The trademark in question was spotted within the database of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (via Gematsu). It was filed on September 26th by Bandai Namco, and as is the case with most of these trademarks spotted ahead of official reveals, it lacks any kinds of interesting details that might give away more on the game.

Sparking! Zero Trademark & Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi

We don’t know much about the game based on that trademark alone, but if you’re familiar with the older Dragon Ball Z fighting games under the Budokai Tenkaichi label, it’s not difficult to figure out how the two proprerties are connected. Budokai Tenkaichi is indeed the Western name for the fighting series with each game in it following those naming conventions as new games were released, but in Japan, the series is called “Dragon Ball Z: Sparking!” instead. The first game in the series took that exact title while Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! Neo followed it with Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! Meteor rounding out the last of the three main games.

With that in mind, it looks like the new fighting game is going to be called Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! Zero if this new trademark is any indication of what’s to come. While players in Japan will already be familiar with the “Sparking!” name, adopting that one in the West and adding “Zero” to the end of it could signify a sort of soft reset for the series seeing how it’s been so long since the third game was released. Of course, the name could be just the Japanese title again with other versions of the game picking up the Budokai Tenkaichi naming conventions again, though seeing how the Sparking! Zero trademark was filed in the United States, don’t be surprised if the new game takes on that name in the future. 

Nothing at all about the new game has been announced officially ever since it was first revealed, so we don’t know yet what kinds of Dragon Ball Z stories and arcs it’ll encompass initially. If past Dragon Ball Z games are any indication of what’s to come, the game’s likely longevity will eventually allow it to encompass pretty much any and every Dragon Ball Z fighter players could hope for.