The title of CyberConnect2 and Bandai Namco reap a promising debut, but below the great titles of the previous two generations.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is being the main topic of conversation for most PS4, Xbox One and PC players this January. An outstanding and expected release by both lovers of Goku's adventures in film, manga or television and those who have been controlling the cast of protagonists in dozens of video games for years. Japan, cradle of Toriyama's work, was a litmus test for the commercial performance of the Bandai Namco game, and the truth is that his debut has been notable in the market.
Above Dragon Ball FighterZ; below Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
But let's start at the beginning. According to data provided by Famitsu, the video game magazine with the largest national circulation in Japan, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot has harvested in its first three calendar days on sale (January 17, 18 and 19, computed period) a total of 89,537 units sold on PlayStation 4 in physical format.
With these numbers and with a couple of titans with which to see the faces such as Yakuza: Like a Dragon (156,993 units) and Pokémon Sword and Shield (55,604 for a total of 3.31 million in two months in these lands), the debut The new installment of the SEGA saga has prevented Kakarot from winning the gold medal in the Japanese market in its debut week.
If we look back, at this point in 2018 Dragon Ball FighterZ also failed to take number one in sales in its opening week in Japan by signing 68,731 units. On that occasion he met a commercial monster such as Monster Hunter World, that week added another 346,187 units for a total of more than 1.5 million copies sold only on PS4 throughout the archipelago.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot and Dragon Ball FighterZ
Bandai Namco's other major project around the saga for home consoles is a veteran, a Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, who refuses to let his name stop ringing based on free and paid updates. With two and a half years behind and a multitude of changes compared to its initial version, the debut of X2 was estimated at 61,365 units on PlayStation 4, one of the most discreet releases that were remembered until then despite the boom at that time of Dragon Ball Super on television.
In both cases, the Nintendo Switch versions released some time later added 23,011 units (Xenoverse 2) and 22,498 units (FighterZ) in their debut.
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
PlayStation 2, those wonderful years …
Dragon Ball has never enjoyed poor health in Japan, but it has had ups and downs. After years of great light and prominence, like that Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (PS2, 2005) with 413,628 copies in its first days for sale, for many one of the three best video games in the history of the saga put the ceiling registered so far since physical sales are posted.
The second best historical premiere is its predecessor, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (PS2, 2004) with 336,730 units sold, while bronze takes the project that originated the trilogy, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, with 336,389 units sold. In the Budokai Tenkaichi trilogy things went well, very well, but the 327,000 units of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (PS2, 2005) were the beginning of a progressive loss of interest. In fact, Tenkaichi 3 (PS2, 2007), which coincided with the end of life of the Sony console, signed only 161,752 units at its premiere.
Dragon ball z budokai tenkaichi 3
The move to High Definition did not sit well with Goku and company in video games. With titles that did not quite convince critics and audiences, which resulted in a gradual drop in sales to current standards. We speak of works such as Burst Limit (PS3, 2008) and its 163,000 units sold, or Raging Blast (PS3, 2009) with 129,688 copies, classified at that time as small stumbles.
Now are other times. The digital market occupies a much higher percentage than in the past and the physical market has been affected by a parallel slowdown in sales. So, qualifying the debut of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot as bad would be inaccurate, because in the first place they have to spend a few days to know the exact percentage of physical copies sold compared to those shipped by Bandai Namco to stores. It will be then when we know if the initial figures have fulfilled or not the expectations of the company, which finds in the West a support far superior to the last decade by the current force of intellectual property.
How Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and FighterZ have done it all over the world
Gohan, in Dragon Ball FighterZ
Finally, it should be noted what they have given themselves internationally both Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and Dragon Ball FighterZ, the two great bulwarks of the franchise in a generation that is already ending. According to data provided by Capcom itself, the Xenoverse saga has added more than 10 million units sold with its two deliveries; of the current, the second part, there were more than 5 million units sold dated March 2019. Dragon Ball FighterZ, directed to a niche much lower than that of the Dimps formula, added on that same date More than 4 million units sold.
How far Dragon Ball Z will go: Kakarot is something we still can't venture even to predict. There are many factors that can intervene in your state of health in the market in the medium term. Initially, the debut of Dragon Ball FighterZ has improved in the British market, but in territories like Spain we still don't know how things are going.
From FreeGameTips we have made a total deployment for title coverage. Beyond our Reviews, where we have rated Kakarot with a remarkable high, we also have a complete guide and a selection where we collect the best Dragon Ball video games so far.
References | Famitsu (via Gematsu); Game Data Library
