Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi Returns After 15

Bandai Namco has announced the return of the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series, over 15 years after the release of its last mainline entry. The announcement was made at the Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour 2023, and a brief teaser trailer confirmed that a new game is in development. The trailer simply said, "A New Sparking Begins," (Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! is the name of the Budokai franchise in Japan), and did not provide a title, confirmed platforms, or release window.

The Budokai Tenkaichi games are 3D fighting games featuring dozens of characters from the Dragon Ball Z anime. The series saw two sequels released in the following two years after the first installment, which was released on PlayStation 2 in 2005. While there have been several spinoffs since the original trilogy, the series hasn't seen a new mainline entry since 2007's Budokai Tenkaichi 3.

It is unclear from the teaser trailer whether the new game will be Budokai Tenkaichi 4 or another spinoff entry, but either way, it has been a long wait for fans of the franchise. In recent years, Dragon Ball fighting game fans have been playing Dragon Ball FighterZ, the critically acclaimed 2D fighter from Arc System Works. Fans looking for a more straight-up adaptation got Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, which recently came to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.