Polygon’s Xenoverse 3 reveal confirmed what fans had suspected since last winter: the next mainline Dragon Ball game lets you summon Goku’s spirit mid-fight, expands the create-a-character system, and ships sometime in the next development window. That leaves a long stretch with nothing new to play. The good news is that the back catalogue on Steam is genuinely strong, and most of it runs well on Steam Deck through Proton.
We pulled together the seven Dragon Ball games on PC worth your time in 2026. The list spans competitive 2D fighting, arena brawling, single-player RPG, asymmetric multiplayer, and one fan-made oddball that scratches the same itch for free. Every paid pick has been on sale at least twice this year, so the prices below are list rather than what you should actually pay.
What to look for in a Dragon Ball game
The Dragon Ball PC catalogue splits cleanly along three axes. The first is combat style: 2D fighting (FighterZ) plays nothing like 3D arena brawling (Sparking! Zero, Xenoverse 2), which in turn feels different from action-RPG (Kakarot). Pick the axis that matches the game you already enjoy, not the show arc you remember best.
The second is solo vs. online. FighterZ, Sparking! Zero, and The Breakers live or die by their online populations and netcode. Kakarot is a pure single-player experience. Xenoverse 2 is hybrid and still has the largest active community of any Dragon Ball game on Steam.
The third is Steam Deck support. Kakarot is Verified, FighterZ and Xenoverse 2 are Playable with minor tweaks, and Sparking! Zero is Playable but heavy on the fans. We flag Deck status on each pick below.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best for | Cost | Steam Deck | Online required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon Ball FighterZ | Competitive 2D fighting | $59.99 | Playable | For ranked |
| Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero | Arena brawling | $69.99 | Playable | For ranked |
| Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot | Single-player RPG | $59.99 | Verified | No |
| Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 | Create-a-Saiyan + lobby | $19.99 | Playable | For hub |
| Dragon Ball: The Breakers | Asymmetric multiplayer | $19.99 | Playable | Yes |
| Jump Force | Crossover roster | Delisted | Playable | For ranked |
| Dragon Ball Online: Generations | Free fan MMO | Free | Browser | Yes |
The seven Dragon Ball games worth playing on PC
1. Dragon Ball FighterZ - Best for competitive 2D fighting
Arc System Works built FighterZ to look like the anime in motion, and seven years later it still does. The 3v3 tag system, the assists, and the Dragon Rush mixups give it the highest skill ceiling of any Dragon Ball game ever made. Rollback netcode arrived in 2022 and the ranked ladder is healthy at every skill bracket on PC.
Where it falls short: The roster is largely locked at this point and new DLC has slowed to a trickle. Lab time is brutal for newcomers, and the auto-combo system papers over execution rather than teaching it.
Pricing: $59.99 base game, often on sale for $10 to $15. FighterZ Pass bundles run $20 to $35.
Platforms: Windows native. Linux via Proton (Gold rating on ProtonDB). Steam Deck Playable.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: If you want to learn a fighting game with Dragon Ball characters and stay sharp until something new arrives, FighterZ is still the answer.
2. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero - Best for arena brawling
Sparking! Zero is the spiritual successor to Budokai Tenkaichi 3, and it leans hard into spectacle. The roster cracks 180 characters across timelines, the destructible arenas hold up under sustained beam clashes, and the camera does an honest job of tracking flight combat. The single-player Episode Battle mode lets you replay arcs from multiple character perspectives.
Where it falls short: Online balance is a long-running complaint and certain DP-cost characters dominate ranked. Career-mode unlocks are grindy. The Switch and Steam Deck builds run at lower framerates than the Windows desktop version.
Pricing: $69.99 base, $99.99 Deluxe with Season Pass. Sales have hit 50% off twice this year.
Platforms: Windows native. Steam Deck Playable but warm.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The biggest, loudest Dragon Ball game on PC. Buy it for the roster and the spectacle, not the ranked grind.
3. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot - Best for single-player RPG
Kakarot retells the Z arcs (Saiyan, Frieza, Cell, Buu) as an open-zone action-RPG with cooking, fishing, side quests, and the most thorough Dragon Ball lore presentation any game has shipped. CyberConnect2 handled the cutscenes with real care, and the combat is satisfying without being deep. The DAIMA Edition bundles the recent Demon Realm DLC.
Where it falls short: The combat lacks the depth of FighterZ or even Xenoverse 2. The open zones are fairly empty between objectives. New Game Plus padding shows.
Pricing: $59.99 base, $99.99 DAIMA Edition. Frequently 60% to 75% off.
Platforms: Windows native. Steam Deck Verified out of the box.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The cleanest single-player Dragon Ball experience on PC. Pick this one if you want the story without learning a fighting game.
4. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 - Best for create-a-Saiyan and hub play
Xenoverse 2 is now nine years old and still the most-played Dragon Ball game on Steam most weeks. The Time Patroller character creator is the whole pitch: build your own Saiyan, Namekian, Majin, or Earthling, then drop them into rewritten timeline missions alongside canon characters. Conton City still has thousands of concurrent players at any hour.
Where it falls short: It looks dated next to Sparking! Zero. The DLC pricing across nine years adds up to more than the base game. Combat is loose and most of the difficulty comes from boss-fight HP inflation.
Pricing: $19.99 base, often $5 on sale. Full DLC bundle pushes $80.
Platforms: Windows native. Linux via Proton (works well). Steam Deck Playable.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: The longest-running Dragon Ball community on PC. Worth the $5 entry just for the character creator.
5. Dragon Ball: The Breakers - Best for asymmetric multiplayer
Seven Survivors versus one Raider, in a Dead by Daylight format with Frieza or Cell as the killer. The Breakers does not pretend to be a serious fighter - survivors mostly hide, scavenge for time-machine parts, and pray. When it works it’s hilarious, and the Raider escalation system (you transform up the canonical power scale) is a great hook.
Where it falls short: Reviews on Steam sit at Mixed and queue times for Survivors are long during off-hours. Cosmetic monetization is aggressive. Balance patches have been slow.
Pricing: $19.99 base, regularly 75% to 85% off. Season passes are $15 each.
Platforms: Windows native. Steam Deck Playable.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Worth a few dollars on sale if you have friends who want to play together. Skip it for solo queue.
6. Jump Force - Best for crossover roster (with caveats)
Jump Force was delisted from Steam in 2022, but if you already own it or pick up a key from a reseller it still runs. The pitch was always cross-franchise: Goku and Vegeta fight Naruto, Luffy, and Yusuke Urameshi in a shared 3v3 arena system. Combat is shallower than FighterZ but the spectacle of seeing Shonen Jump’s biggest stars share a stage is genuinely fun.
Where it falls short: Online servers were turned off in 2022 alongside the delisting, so this is single-player only now. The story mode is rough. No future updates are coming.
Pricing: Key resellers around $20 to $40. Not available on Steam directly.
Platforms: Windows native. Steam Deck Playable for the offline modes.
Download: Not available on Steam. Check Bandai Namco’s licensed reseller list.
Bottom line: A heritage pick for crossover fans. Skip unless the specific roster appeal hits.
7. Dragon Ball Online: Generations - Best free fan project
Generations is a Roblox-hosted fan recreation of the long-dead Dragon Ball Online Korean MMO. It runs in a browser, costs nothing, and the active community has rebuilt training arcs, story missions, and PvP zones. We mention it because nothing else in the official catalogue scratches the MMO itch on PC right now.
Where it falls short: It’s Roblox. The graphics are blocky, accounts can be banned for trading, and Bandai Namco could request takedown at any time. There is no offline mode.
Pricing: Free. Optional Roblox cosmetics.
Platforms: Any platform with a modern browser, including Linux and Steam Deck via desktop mode.
Download: Roblox page
Bottom line: A free MMO-lite option that fills the gap until an official Dragon Ball MMO ships. Treat it as a side experiment, not a main game.
How to pick the right one
Start with how you actually play games. If you spend evenings in training mode and ranked queues, FighterZ is the right pick because the skill ceiling and netcode reward that time. If you grew up on Budokai Tenkaichi and want to relive the spectacle of flight-camera arena brawling, Sparking! Zero is the only modern game that nails that feel.
If you mostly play solo and want to walk through the Z arcs without learning a fighter, Kakarot is the cleanest experience and runs Verified on Steam Deck. If you want to build a Saiyan and dump dozens of hours into hub play with strangers, Xenoverse 2 still has the largest active community at $5 to $20 entry.
The Breakers is a party-game purchase, not a main game. Jump Force is a heritage pick for collectors. Generations is a free curiosity worth one evening if the MMO format appeals.
Most fans we know own two of these: FighterZ for competitive sessions and Kakarot for story binges. That combination covers the widest range of moods without buying every release.
Frequently asked questions
Will any of these run on macOS?
None of the seven titles ship a native macOS build. On Apple Silicon, the practical options are CrossOver or Whisky for FighterZ and Xenoverse 2 (community reports are mixed) and cloud streaming via GeForce Now for the games supported there. Steam Deck is a better bet than Mac for the full Dragon Ball catalogue.
Which Dragon Ball game has the best online community on PC in 2026?
Xenoverse 2 has the largest hub population by a wide margin. FighterZ has the largest competitive ranked population. Sparking! Zero has the most casual ranked activity. The Breakers has the smallest active player base of the four online-focused picks.
Is Sparking! Zero a true sequel to Budokai Tenkaichi 3?
Yes. Spike Chunsoft (the original Tenkaichi developer) returned for Sparking! Zero, the combat system inherits Tenkaichi’s flight and beam-clash mechanics, and the roster is the largest in the series. It is the closest thing to Tenkaichi 4 fans were ever going to get.
Can I play FighterZ on Steam Deck competitively?
Yes for casual ranked, with caveats. The Deck runs FighterZ at locked 60fps with minor Proton tweaks, but the OLED touchpads are not ideal for fighting-game inputs. Pair the Deck with a fightstick or pad for any serious play.
What about Dragon Ball Heroes or Dokkan Battle on PC?
Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission shipped on Steam in 2019 but the card-battle format has a narrow audience. Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle is mobile only - no official PC client exists, and the BlueStacks route violates the game’s terms of service.
Will Xenoverse 3 replace any of these games?
Likely it replaces Xenoverse 2 for create-a-Saiyan players who want the upgraded systems. The other six picks serve different needs (2D competitive, arena brawling, single-player RPG, asymmetric multiplayer, crossover, free MMO) that Xenoverse 3 will not address. Keep the others installed.
