A recent trademark filed by Bandai Namco might have revealed that Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 4's name will actually be Budokai Tenkaichi: Zero, which fans think could mean that it's a reboot of the series.

Ever since a new Budokai Tenkaichi game was confirmed to be in development earlier this year at Dragon Ball Battle Hour 2023, fans of the series have been desperate to hear more about it, something that Bandai Namco has seemingly been reluctant to do. While it may not have given us any more official news just yet, it looks like something is on the horizon, as it recently filed a trademark in the US for the game's Japanese name - Sparking! Zero.

Related

Budokai Tenkaichi 4 Is The Dragon Ball Game We've Been Waiting For

The 16-year wait is nearly over.

Posts

We've known for some time now that the next Budokai Tenkaichi game was going to be titled Sparking! Zero in Japan thanks to reports from an insider, but it was assumed for some time that it'd simply be titled "Budokai Tenkaichi 4" for the rest of the world. However, considering Bandai Namco has trademarked Sparking! Zero in the US, it's possible that the worldwide title will follow a similar pattern and that the game could end up being called Budokai Tenkaichi Zero.

Not only do a lot of fans now believe that to be the case thanks to that trademark being discovered, but they also think that it means that the next Budokai Tenkaichi game is actually going to be a reboot instead of a continuation of the series. For example, Twitter user ShonenGameZ shared the trademark saying, "Now that we 100% know this isn’t Tenkaichi 4 and likely a reboot", before calling it a "lose-lose" either way due to inevitably being compared to BT3.

ShonenGameZ's tweet gained a lot of attention from Dragon Ball fans, who had mixed reactions to the theory. Some think that it'd make sense considering how many characters Budokai Tenkaichi 3 had and that it'd be simpler to not try to replicate that, while others point to games like God of War's 2018 reboot as a sign not to take game names so seriously. Other fans, like stockindonut, simply agreed that it's more likely that the game is going to be a reboot of the series, pointing to previous examples like Raging Blast 2 and Zenkai Battle.

That being said, it's worth noting that every game in the Budokai Tenkaichi series so far has had a very different name in Japan to the rest of the world. The first game was simply titled "Sparking", while Budokai Tenkaichi 2 was called Sparking! Neo, with the final game in the series being called Sparking! Meteor. Although it's interesting to note that the Japanese title has a number this time around, it's possible that the game will still be called Budokai Tenkaichi 4 in the rest of the world and this is simply yet another difference in name between regions.

Next: No Dungeons & Dragons Spell Is Truly 'Bad'