Why Uma Musume Remains a Long-Term Hit: Game Design and KPIs

Even now, more than five years after its release on February 24, 2021, "Uma Musume Pretty Derby" continues to exert an overwhelming presence in the Japanese mobile game market. Why has it not ended as a temporary boom but rather kept captivating so many users and generating astonishing revenue for such a long period? From the perspective of the game information media "Game Rack," this article provides a multifaceted analysis of the strengths of this national hit title, dissecting its structure from four viewpoints: "game design," "monetization," "retention strategies," and "KPIs."

Game Design That Created a One-of-a-Kind "Training Experience"

The most crucial aspect when discussing the success of "Uma Musume" is its excellent foundational game design. Cygames, the developer and operator, captivated players by offering a deep training simulation experience that goes beyond a mere character game.

A "Roguelike" Training System That Makes You Want to Play Again and Again

The training segment of "Uma Musume" possesses a "roguelike" nature, where event occurrences and training outcomes change with each playthrough. Players are faced with countless choices, such as which practice (training) to select, which skills to acquire, and which races to enter. These choices intricately intertwine with support card combinations and randomly occurring events, leading to different developments and results every time. This gameplay where "no two training sessions are ever the same" creates high replayability and keeps players engaged.

An Empathetic Narrative Woven from History and "What If" Scenarios

Each Uma Musume's scenario unfolds a unique "what if story" based on the real-life history of the racehorse it's modeled after. Stories of horses overcoming injuries that brought them to tears in history, or realizing dreams they couldn't achieve, strongly move the hearts of not only horse racing fans but also players unfamiliar with horse racing. The character designs also skillfully reflect the coat color, racing silks, and nicknames of the original racehorses, conveying deep affection and respect. This meticulous craftsmanship fosters strong empathy for the characters, leading to the motivation to "make this girl's dream come true" through training.

Exquisite Monetization Design That Converts "Oshi" Love into Revenue

Essential for long-term operation is a monetization design that secures revenue without causing stress to users. "Uma Musume" has built a system that cleverly captures user psychology, centered around gacha.

Two Types of Gacha with Different Roles

The main revenue sources for "Uma Musume" are two pillars: the "Training Uma Musume Gacha" and the "Support Card Gacha." The former is a gacha for obtaining the characters players want to train, appealing to collection desires and affection for their "oshi." The latter, on the other hand, is a gacha for obtaining support characters to advance training advantageously, responding to competitive drive and practical desires to raise stronger Uma Musume. This dual structure successfully encourages monetization from a wide range of users, from those with deep character affection to those who want to advance in the game advantageously. The Japanese mobile game market has a deeply rooted monetization model based on such gacha.

User-Friendly Design That Reduces Resistance to Spending

"Uma Musume" features a relatively generous distribution of free in-game currency "Jewels" and a "Pickup Exchange Pt (commonly known as: Tenjou or 'pity system')" system that guarantees desired characters or cards after a certain number of gacha pulls. This lowers the barrier to spending and creates a design where users are less likely to feel "they've lost out." Even for light-spenders and free-to-play users, there's an opportunity to acquire powerful characters over time, which contributes to maintaining the player base and, consequently, revitalizing the overall game and ensuring long-term revenue stability.

Diverse Retention Strategies Beyond the Game's Boundaries

Retention (customer retention) strategies to keep users engaged and playing the game for a long time are also a strength of "Uma Musume." In addition to regularly held in-game events, cross-media strategies that transcend the boundaries of the game have proven highly effective.

Regular Events That Maintain Training Motivation

PvP (player-versus-player) and PvE (player-versus-environment) events, such as "Champions Meeting" and "Legend Race," where players compete with their trained Uma Musume, are regularly held. These events serve as goals for players to test the fruits of their training and are a source of motivation to acquire new characters and support cards. Additionally, new training scenarios regularly added bring changes to the game environment and play a crucial role in preventing stagnation.

Cross-Media Strategy to Maximize IP Appeal

The success of "Uma Musume" is not limited to the game itself. Multifaceted media mix developments, including TV anime, comics, music CD releases, and live events featuring voice actors, continue to grow the overall fanbase for the IP (intellectual property). Synergistic effects are created, such as people becoming fans of a particular character through the anime and then starting the game, or growing to love the game's music even more after hearing it live. This ensures that users do not drift away from the "Uma Musume" content even during periods when they are not playing the game, and a strong fan community is formed and maintained.

Operational Prowess Proven by Astonishing KPIs

Finally, let's look at the success of "Uma Musume" through concrete numbers (KPIs: Key Performance Indicators). The publicly available data eloquently speaks to the excellence of its operation.

Immediately after its release in March 2021, it recorded an astonishing revenue of approximately 14 billion JPY in just one month. Its momentum did not wane; in March 2023, its global cumulative revenue surpassed 2 billion USD (approximately 264.9 billion JPY at the time). Furthermore, by early 2024, marking its 3rd anniversary since release, global cumulative revenue reached 2.4 billion USD (approximately 379 billion JPY), continuing to maintain top-class profitability in the mobile game market. These figures indicate that measures such as the implementation of new characters and support cards, and anniversary events, accurately stimulate users' desire to spend, maintaining a high ARPU (Average Revenue Per User). The Japanese mobile game market boasts one of the world's largest scales, supported by high ARPU, and "Uma Musume" is one of its central figures.

Conclusion

The reasons why "Uma Musume Pretty Derby" has maintained its popularity and achieved success over the long term are certainly not accidental. It is the result of a high-level and organic fusion of four elements: a profound "game design" that keeps players engaged, a "monetization design" that cleverly captures user psychology, diverse "retention strategies" that connect fans both inside and outside the game, and overwhelming "KPIs" that demonstrate their achievements. "Uma Musume" continues to grow beyond the confines of a mere game, evolving into a colossal entertainment IP. Its remarkable progress is sure to continue leading the Japanese mobile game market.