With gacha games old and new continuing to find success in the mobile market, the genre has certainly proven its staying power. After all, one of them even became the fastest mobile game ever to hit $5 billion.

Whether building on existing IP and dangling fan-favourite characters on a string in front of players, or building up a new property entirely from scratch, the allure of probability is proven to keep players spending.

But which gacha games have started off the strongest in 2024? And were their revenues in January up or down compared to December? The answer to that one, of course, varies by title. But overall, three of the top five earners made significantly more last month than at the end of 2023, while miHoYo’s new golden child Honkai: Star Rail - surprisingly - was the only one among them to see a revenue fall.

Gotcha, gacha

It comes as little surprise to learn that miHoYo’s Genshin Impact towered over the gacha genre this January, generating $36 million at a 16% increase over December 2023. According to GachaRevenue (with Sensor Tower as a data source), this gave Genshin Impact at $9 million lead over second place’s Goddess of Victory: Nikke. Even so, second is no mean feat for Nikke, rising the ranks from seventh in December; revenue generation rose from $20 million then to roughly $27 million in January.

Fate/Grand Order maintained its bronze medal with a consistent $27 million both months, while Uma Musume: Pretty Derby ranked fourth with $21 million in revenue from Japan alone. Its rise from $16 million in December marks a 31% monthly revenue increase, and it should go without saying that beating Honkai: Star Rail is a major accomplishment in and of itself.

Then, Star Rail rounded out the top five, down from second place in December with an $8 million drop in revenue. The game generated $20 million in January - still a mighty figure, though this has widened the gap between it and Genshin Impact; they were only $3 million apart in December, but then Genshin made a whole $16 million more in January.

Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle and One Piece Bounty Rush - gacha games based on Japanese IP - saw a rise in revenue last month, making $19 million and $17 million respectively. And Bounty Rush’s earnings are especially noteworthy for more than doubling, up from only $7 million in December.

However, other Japanese IP games like Dragon Ball Legends, Jujutsu Kaisen Phantom Parade and Black Clover M saw substantial falls in revenue. The latter caught many eyes in late 2023 as November’s breakout hit - beating the likes of industry giants Garena: Free Fire, Subway Surfers and Roblox for downloads. But Black Clover M lacked staying power in January, earning only $5 million compared to $17 million one month earlier.

Koei Tecmo’s Atelier Resleriana halved its earnings from $4 million to $2 million too, although a worldwide launch at the end of January may help turn things back into the green.

Overall, it’s apparent that the biggest gacha games out there continued to excel through the first month on 2024, and further suggested the genre to be the province of Eastern developers, be they in China, Japan or Korea. Genshin Impact came out on top, of course, but Honkai: Star Rail’s fall is a noteworthy one after it broke its predecessor’s record last year.

Andriy Zmeul analysed Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail figures to determine whether miHoYo’s games are competing for the same audience.