The game that’s as big as Pokemon Go in Japan: with time-travel game Fate/Grand Order, Sony has a hit on its hands
Sony’s Fate/Grand Order has been downloaded more than 7 million times, its players in Japan outspend Pokemon Go users and it’s a hit in China. The mobile game may get a Hong Kong release in 2017
Nintendo might have scored a hit with the explosive debut of Pokemon Go this year. On its home turf, however, Sony has quietly eclipsed its rival with a popular mobile game titled Fate/Grand Order.
The game, based on an anime TV series called Fate, allows players to travel back in time and team up with historical figures such as Julius Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci and Joan of Arc to rescue humanity from looming disaster. While the basic version is free to play, people can pay for tokens that make it easier to add characters and speed up gameplay.
Fate/Grand Order has been at or near the top of Japan’s app revenue rankings all year and has been downloaded more than 7 million times since its July 2015 debut. It has made more money than Pokemon Go among Android users 104 out of 133 days this year, and 51 days on iOS devices, in the same period, according to researcher App Annie.
“In terms of the amount of money people are spending, it’s up there above Pokemon Go,” says Damian Thong, an analyst at Macquarie Group in Tokyo. “The intensity and engagement level for Fate/Grand Order is a lot higher.”
When Sony reported its latest quarterly figures last month, Sony chief financial officer Kenichiro Yoshida singled out the game, saying “it continues to positively” contribute to the music division, where it’s based. The game’s success is a sign of how important Sony’s gaming and entertainment businesses are for chief executive officer Kazuo Hirai, as the company struggles with razor-thin margins and competition in televisions, cameras and other hardware. The company plans to expand its mobile games effort with more titles in more markets in the coming months.
The original Fate television series and more recent game emerged from Sony’s Aniplex studio, created in 1995 to produce anime TV shows and movies. Atsuhiro Iwakami, 44, the studio’s president, says the idea to branch out into gaming was hatched three years ago when he realised the show’s complexity and large cast of characters lent itself well to the mechanics of mobile games.