Digimon Up player spending hits $10m in one month with hybrid monetisation model

• Digimon Up has made an estimated $10 million in gross player spending during its first month.
• The title has a hybrid monetisation approach, with additional earnings likely from its web shop and in-game ads.

Idle RPG Digimon Up has generated approximately $10 million in gross player spending during its first month.

Bandai Namco’s latest Digimon title launched on July 15th, 2026 as a mobile exclusive. According to AppMagic estimates, player spending totalled $10m between Google Play and the App Store over its first month, with total earnings likely higher when including its web shop and rewarded ads.

The result has followed a claim by Bandai Namco president Nao Udagawa that the Digimon IP recently reached its highest profitability in history, surpassing its success during the late 90s and early 2000s when the virtual pets and anime adaptation took off.

Digimon Up aims to tap into nostalgia for virtual pets while combining card collection, gacha mechanics and idle battles. Players can raise a Digimon of their choice by growing food to feed them, sending them into battle, upgrading skills and more.

An early peak

Digimon Up’s player spending peaked early, rising from $790,000 on launch day to a current record of $1.1m on day two, July 16th. Spending fell marginally on day three and marked the beginning of a 14-day decline, down to just $154,000 by July 31st.

A negligible rise followed in early August with new content and Digimon like Veemon and Aegiochusmon added to the gacha, bridging old and new eras of the franchise. However, overall spending continued to decline over the next two weeks, ending the month at $75,000 in daily spend. This was less than 10% of earnings on launch day.

The title is monetised in numerous ways. Per banner, its gacha allows one free summon each day and then requires purchase-only currency. There are also battle passes, subscriptions and ads.

While watching ads is optional, doing so allows players to increase the speed of idle battles for a limited time, racing ahead through content and Digivolving their Digimon faster - better prepared for PvP.

A one-time purchase is available to remove ads, allowing players to increase their rate of progress without interruption. Other purchases include cosmetics like Agumon PJs.

Where and when

Bandai Namco officially confirmed that Digimon Up surpassed two million installs on August 6th. Estimates suggest close competition between Japan and the US for leading this figure thus far, representing 17% and 16% of downloads respectively.

Meanwhile, Japan has demonstrated a strong lead in player spending between the major stores. Players in the country spent an estimated $4.1m during Digimon Up’s first month, accounting for 41% of the global sum.

The US ranked second in total spend over the month with $2.2m or 22% of global spend.

Notably, Japan led daily spending on the major stores for the game’s first 16 days before being overtaken by the US, with fluctuations between the two since. US spending stayed above Japan’s daily levels throughout the last eight days of month one.

South Korea ranked third during the month overall, also ranking third for downloads. The country contributed $1.2m in spending or 12% globally. Thus far, these three are the only countries to hit seven figures.

Fellow mobile title AFK Journey is expected to launch a Digimon crossover on August 18th.