Digimon Up makes $7.9m in player spending during first two weeks

• Digimon Up generated $7.9 million in player spending in its first two weeks.
• Japan contributed 44%, forming the most lucrative market thus far.

Bandai Namco’s new mobile game Digimon Up generated $7.9 million in gross player spending during its first two weeks globally.

According to AppMagic data, estimating revenue generated from Google Play and the App Store, the idle game has made 44% of that player spending sum from Japan. The US has followed in second at 20%, while South Korea contributed 12%.

It should be noted that Digimon Up also operates an external web shop and runs in-game ads, meaning its total earnings are likely higher than that $7.9m sum.

Monetisation and monsters

Digimon Up launched worldwide on July 15th, 2026 with a combination of card collection, gacha mechanics and idle battles. The title also allows players to raise Digimon like virtual pets - growing food for them, levelling them up and navigating them through interactive challenges. This harkens back to Digimon’s roots as a virtual pet simulator in the 1990s.

The game officially hit one million downloads during its first week, leveraging series nostalgia with Digimon partners from the early seasons of the anime available in-game.

Estimates suggest Digimon Up made $790,000 on release and peaked in player spending just one day later, making $1.1m on July 16th. Spending fell slightly but remained above the $1m mark on day three, and hasn’t reached seven figures again since.

Over those first two weeks, Digimon Up proceeded to see 12 consecutive days of decline, down to $187,000 on July 28th. That’s an 83% decline from the game’s peak.

Earning from many sources

As a player’s partner Digimon gains experience in battle, they can level up and Digivolve into stronger creatures. While the game doesn’t force ads on players, fans can increase the speed of idle battles for a limited time by watching incentivised ads, boosting their rate of progress. Alternatively, a one-time purchase allows players to permanently remove ads.

Other purchases include summoning tickets for the gacha, bundles of premium DigiDiamonds and a subscription-based DigiDiamond Pass, earning players the currency daily. There are also cosmetics-focused purchases like Agumon PJs, depicting the series’ mascot, and a specific Battle Acceleration Pass.

Overall, this means Digimon Up is monetising through a hybrid of models, with one-time purchases, subscriptions and ad revenue. Yet, it appears player spending has already fallen considerably since launch.

During its third week, the game is currently encouraging daily log-ins as part of a crossover event with Digimon Time Stranger, the series’ latest console title. Players can aim for Inori Misono and Aegiomon in the gacha using their in-game currency or log in for seven days for a guaranteed copy of the duo.

We recently interviewed Pixel Federation lead game system designer Martin Gajarsky about various monetisation models and the risks of retrofitting.