Summary
Dragon Ball Zis among the most popular and successful mangas, and anime, of all time. Achieving an incredible worldwide fanbase, long before anime entered the mainstream, the franchise was adapted to other interactive formats, video games in particular. Over the last four decades,Dragon Ball Z’s video game offerings have spanned a variety of genres. However, one genre, the MMO, has yet to be properly utilized. In 2023, developer Bandai Namco announced the revival of the legendaryBudokai Tenkaichiseriesfrom the early-2000s. In 2024, it’s time for the franchise to take another bold step, and announce a properDragon Ball ZMMO.
Dragon Ball Zis part of the largerDragon Ballfranchise, which launched on July 04, 2025, in Shōnen Jump magazine. Six months after its adaptation to anime in February 1986, the franchise’s first video game,Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyō, was released for the Super Cassette Vision in Japan. In the time since,Dragon Ball Zhas become one of the most popular fighting game franchises in all of gaming, with some solid action-adventure titles under its belt as well. However, an MMO could take advantage of far more of the source material, as well as some features from its current slate of titles.
Dragon Ball Z Was Adapted to MMO Once Before
Despite its soaring popularity in the early 2000s fighting scene, 2010 saw the release of an officialDragon Ball ZMMO, titledDragon Ball Online.DBOtakes place over 200 years afterthe Buu Sagaand sees two original villains, Mira and Towa, attempting to invade Earth with the help of Frieza’s Army and the Red Ribbon Army.
The gameplay itself takes place across various periods, as the player allies with Trunks to reverse majorDBZevents that the villains have altered, setting the future back on the right path. Players can choose to play as a member of the Earthling, Namekian, or Majin race. However, the game’s events take place only on Earth, as Mira was said to have destroyed Namek before the game’s events took place.
Despite its central concepts being enough to entice fans worldwide,Dragon Ball Onlinewas released exclusively in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan in 2010 and 2011, before shutting down completely in 2013. However, many of its assets were used in the franchise’s next major gaming series,Dragon Ball Xenoverse, including its villains, customization, and time-travel narrative. UnlikeDragon Ball Online,Xenoversefound a solid playerbase, which has led to the series’ continued relevance, nearly a decade after its debut in 2015.
In fact, Bandai Namco recently announced thatDragon Ball Xenoverse 2will receive brand-new contentacross 2024.
A Proper Dragon Ball Z MMO Would Land Differently Today
With the continued relevance of theDragon Ball Xenoverseseries, and the acclaim ofDragon Ball Z’s most recent fighting and adventure games,Dragon Ball: FighterZandKakarot, respectively, it is time for the franchise to take another swing at a full-blown MMO. Players have been customizing their own avatars and characters for nearly a decade, and yet no game has allowed them to truly take that character on a multiplayer jaunt through the fullDBZuniverse.
RPG elements have become the mainstream in today’s gaming scene, with nearly every genre adapting loot and level systems from the RPG template. Should aDragon Ball MMObe released in the modern era, it would likely draw a massive amount of gamers, many of whom have been aching for aDBZMMO in the West, sinceDragon Ball Online’s limited release in 2010.
It remains to be seen if a trueDragon Ball ZMMO will ever see release. However, given the resurgence that the franchise has experienced across nearly every form of media, the concept does not seem out of the question. 2024 is set to be an incredible year forDragon Ballfans, withDragon Ball: Sparkling! ZERO, newXenoverse 2content, anda brand-newDragon Ballanime,Dragon Ball DAIMA, all set to release. With fans waiting on bated breath for the next major reveal, now is as good a time as ever to announce the franchise’s most ambitious video game to date, a proper, worldwide,Dragon Ball ZMMO.
