Games based on Anime content have the potential to expand a franchise’s audience, if they embrace features that are important to fans of the genre. DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, for example, is a Fighting game that includes over 180 fighters from the franchise, each with their own unique abilities. The title performed exceptionally well, becoming the most popular within the Fighting genre for two consecutive months, and became the third most popular title by average MAUs from June 2024 to July 2025 (across PlayStation, Xbox and Steam). 

Dragon Ball is one of the most popular Anime franchises globally, with a peak Popularity Score* exceeding the likes of One Piece and Naruto, and the size of Sparking! ZERO’s userbase exceeded all previous game adaptations of the franchise. The title includes features that fans of the Fighting genre value (according to Ampere’s Games Consumer data), such as attaining as much power as possible, or mastering skills and techniques. In doing so, it has managed to captivate fans of the Fighting genre more generally, not just fans of the original Anime franchise.

Success in adapting Anime into games is not a given, however. Smaller scope Anime-adapted games can struggle to expand the original audience, as the quality of these adaptations can sometimes be perceived as lacking in the highly competitive gaming landscape. But the growing Anime fanbase presents an opportunity for such adaptations to reach greater heights. 

As of Q1 2025, only around one-third of gamers are Anime fans, but with the population of Anime fans expanding globally, particularly in Europe, games companies will have the chance to grow their audiences for such content in the coming years. As the numbers of Anime fans and gamers both expand, games producers will be able to invest more in animation-based titles. Looking ahead, higher-budgeted and thus higher-quality games based on Anime titles stand a greater chance of appealing to a wider gamer audience.