After squandering millions on Unknown 9: Awakening, which flopped so badly it led to layoffs at its studio within weeks, Bandai Namco faced fresh embarrassment with the chaos of the French qualifiers for the “Dramatic Showdown” tournament.
Despite struggles with ill-fated projects, Bandai Namco’s release of Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO was a rare success, selling over three million units on its launch day. The game, tied to Akira Toriyama’s iconic franchise, inspired hopes of kickstarting a competitive scene with the high-profile “Dramatic Showdown.”
The Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Dramatic Showdown Tournament is an international event spotlighting the latest entry in the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series. Players from across the globe compete in regional online qualifiers, with the top contenders advancing to the Grand Finals at the Battle Hour Finals in Los Angeles, set for January 18-19, 2025.
Registration opened on November 12, 2024, and the qualifiers are scheduled to run throughout November and December. While the Battle Hour event will offer last-minute qualifying opportunities, controversy has already emerged. The French qualifiers have gone viral, drawing criticism over alleged exploit abuse by finalists Shiryxu and Hilliasteur, who dominated the competition using questionable tactics.
The Grand Finals match was marred by both competitors employing stalling tactics, using the game’s vertical flying mechanics to remain just out of reach of their opponent’s high-damage Sparking Zero combos. Unsurprisingly, this resulted in a match that was less than thrilling to watch. In fact, the commentary team at the French qualifying event stopped calling the match for an extended period, reflecting the lack of action.
In the first match of the set, both players selected Android 19 and Dr. Gero, capitalizing on their ability to ascend and descend infinitely without consuming meter. This tactic exposed a significant flaw in the game’s mechanics: it becomes nearly impossible for opponents to engage meaningfully when both characters abuse infinite vertical movement.
In the end, Hilliasteur adhered to Bandai Namco’s warning and switched characters, effectively handing Shiryxu the win, as he was allowed to continue using characters such as Android 19 and Dr. Gero. While this outcome seemed odd, Hilliasteur appeared somewhat content that Shiryxu could progress without facing disqualification.
However, this sense of relief was short-lived as it was announced on the Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Discord that both Shiryxu and Hilliasteur have been disqualified from the Dramatic Showdown Tournament French qualifiers for allegedly violating the Code of Conduct.
As a result, Shiryxu’s qualification for the Battle Hour Grand Final has been revoked. Administrators have decided to invite the two third-place finishers, DrastreSparking and Siimba51, to compete for the now open spot, with the oversight of administrators off-stream.
It has also come to light that Shiryxu, the original winner of the Dramatic Showdown Tournament French qualifiers, repeatedly asked in the Discord chat if winning by time over was against the rules in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero. While no tournament organizer responded, it was noted that the rules didn’t explicitly prohibit such a strategy.
Yet, both Shiryxu and Hilliasteur were disqualified due to their exploitation of game mechanics, even though no formal rule against it existed at the time of play.
Fans are now debating whether the blame lies with the players, the organizers, or the game’s design. The ability for certain characters to infinitely dash and avoid opponents is clearly an oversight by the developers at Spike Chunsoft. Bandai Namco also failed to recognize this exploit shortly after release. If a game includes a mechanic that can be easily exploited for a guaranteed win, players will take advantage of it, after all, there are no consequences, and it leads to victory. This, ultimately, falls on the game designers.
It’s hard not to draw parallels with other competitive titles and qualifiers, like the controversy surrounding Team Mi Seng in the Halo 5 Championship Series Asia Qualifiers.
The team included members from Hidden Reach, a community known for exploiting game mechanics and mastering unconventional strategies of escaping the map. Mi Seng made it to the finals without using any exploits, but once there, they employed a strategy that involved hiding beneath the map, making them invulnerable to damage.
With a point advantage, they simply ran down the clock to secure their victory. This tactic sparked a heated debate about fair play and whether the tournament rules were adequate, adding further controversy to an already problematic event rife with lag.
It’s clear that no legitimate organization would ever condone the use of such exploits or glitches as legitimate results. While Sparking Zero is intended to be a casual game, not a competitive fighting game, a patch in December is expected to address these issues, particularly those involving Android characters.
The Dramatic Showdown will continue through the rest of November and into December. Qualifying events will be held in Japan and Spain on November 30, Italy on December 1, the US West Coast on December 7, and the US East Coast on December 8.
The Grand Finals will take place at the Dragon Ball: Games Battle Hour 2025 in Los Angeles, CA, on January 18 and 19. Fans of Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero are hoping the event will live up to the hype, though the earlier qualifiers haven’t exactly set the best precedent. Given the massive social media coverage surrounding this particular matchup, it’s clear that the hype reached its peak and fizzled out with the intense battle of exploiter versus exploiter.