Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero publisher warns players to delete modded Custom Battles "immediately to avoid a ban"

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero players have been warned not to use mods in Custom Battles, with publisher Bandai Namco recommending that anyone who has should delete them "immediately to avoid a ban."

In a post first shared by the official Dragon Ball Games Twitter account, it's been confirmed that those who use mods in this way may be hit with consequences. "Appropriate security measures will be taken against those who used any MOD system in Custom Battle," the post reads. "We recommend you delete any Custom Battles containing MODs immediately to avoid a ban. Please note that our support team cannot address any issues or appeals caused by the use of MODs." The same point about deleting modded Custom Battles has been reiterated by Bandai Namco.

It's a move that might initially seem rather surprising. After all, Custom Battle isn't a multiplayer mode – it's a new addition to Sparking Zero that lets players create fantasy Dragon Ball fight scenarios with the enormous roster of characters, and options to tweak the combat rules, as well as the stage, music and more. However, players are still able to upload the Custom Battles they create to the online World Library for others to download and try themselves, complete with visible thumbnails that'll preview the content as you browse. 

There's a handful of potential reasons why Bandai Namco might not fancy modded Custom Battles running wild – perhaps to make sure all the game's content matches its age rating, for example. On top of that, some on the fighting game's subreddit suggest that stumbling across modded battles without having the mods in question installed can be harmful. However, the publisher hasn't confirmed if this is an issue, or explained its true reasoning for trying to prevent mods in the mode. 

Sparking Zero has been a real success for Bandai Namco – it had the Dragon Ball franchise's biggest ever Steam launch even before leaving early access. However, its difficulty came as a surprise to many, with the Great Ape Vegeta boss fight in particular proving to be a real pain right from launch.

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero publisher says just "Lower difficulty and retry" to fighting fans getting demolished by Great Ape Vegeta, but players say that's "absolutely NOT" an option.