Mobile shooter action game Goddess of Victory: Nikke has reached $500m in revenue and seen a 215% increase in sales thanks to a recent collaboration with Nier: Automata, the action role-playing game from Platinum Games.

The collaboration included the appearance of character 2B within the fanservice-heavy title and according to the latest Sensor Tower data 60.5% of sales came from Japan while the US and Korea saw 14.9% and 12.1% of sales attributed to them specifically.

Goddess of Victory: Nikke was ranked 15th in terms of mobile game sales during the November 2022 to September 2023 period. It was also the highest in the squad RPG genre which includes titles such as Uma Musume: Pretty Derby and Raid: Shadow Legends. The success of a game like Goddess of Victory: Nikke in the Japanese market, raking in the big bucks is further evidence of that market’s sustained buying power.

More interestingly, Sensor Tower also shows that publisher Tencent’s overseas mobile sales grew 47% during and after the launch of the game, noting that many of their previous launches such as League of Legends: Wild Rift previously drew the majority of their sales from the Chinese market. Thus, Tencent have shown their overseas publishing chops with Goddess of Victory: Nikke’s success.

Fanservice or something more…?

Goddess of Victory: Nikke’s success has drawn attention to the game’s focus on fanservice, and whether or not it is key to the game’s success, or if it’s the title's gameplay that can take credit. The success of its collaboration is also indicative of how a game can leverage crossovers and guest characters to great effect.

The title previously held a collaboration with popular anime series Chainsaw Man, which saw the inclusion of characters from that series. Sensor Tower also notes increased attention due to the addition of new characters on a consistent basis. As a squad-based RPG, games such as Nikke are heavily focused on gacha-like gameplay involving the collection and deployment of new characters regularly. It's likely that the consistent refreshing of the title’s cast has proved a key aspect in its retention and user acquisition success.

And it’s not just the content of the game, but also its discoverability that Sensor Tower examines. They note consistently high ad share across major mobile advertising networks, as well as on TV, for the high visibility of the game to players.

With the success of Goddess of Victory: Nikke, and its appearance as a significant contributor to Tencent’s revenue, we may see further efforts to push original projects in overseas markets by the company, especially with the continuing threat of regulatory interference, and successful releases of previously China-only titles such as Street Fighter: Duel in the West.