A mobile game about anime horse girls has generated over $2 billion in Japan, and now it’s eyeing the U.S. market. Umamusume: Pretty Derby, developed by Cygames, launched in 2021 and has since earned over 295 billion yen (about $2 billion), with more than 30 million downloads across Asia. Last month, it finally made its global debut, and it’s already gaining traction in the U.S.
At its American launch, Umamusume topped the #1 spot in Free Simulation and #2 in Grossing Simulation on U.S. mobile charts. It peaked at over 47,000 concurrent players on Steam and boasts more than 80,000 Twitch followers. On Reddit, its dedicated community ranks in the top 2% of all subreddits. One popular character even has her own YouTube channel.
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At the 2025 Kentucky Derby, developer Cygames went all in with a sponsorship booth promoting its signature “anime horses.” Yes, that’s exactly what they are.
A ‘weird’ phenomena explained
According to critics and gamers, the premise is “weird” even by anime standards: real Japanese racehorses are reborn as girls with horse ears and tails who train at an elite academy, compete in races and celebrate victories with idol-style concerts. There are no actual horses — the girls are the horses. Their races are modeled after real-world Japanese racing events, and every character is based on an actual racehorse, down to their quirks and legacies.
One standout is Haru Urara, based on a real-life racehorse who lost all 113 of her races but became a national symbol of resilience during Japan’s economic downturn. Decades later, her in-game persona is one of the franchise’s most beloved, due to her underdog appeal.
As one Reddit user put it: “She never gave up, so do we. We will make her win and make her dream more than come true.”
A uniquely Japanese concept with roots
The concept of personifying non-human entities as anime girls isn’t new. Japan’s “Kantai Collection” (also known as KanColle) turned WWII battleships into teenage girls and became a massive hit shortly after its launch in 2013.
Umamusume: Pretty Derby takes the same approach with racehorses, and it stuck. The anime launched in 2018, years before the game, and introduced viewers to Special Week, a cheerful girl based on the real-life champion horse who won 10 out of 17 races. The story followed her journey from the island of Hokkaido to Tokyo in pursuit of becoming Japan’s top “horse girl.”
The gameplay itself blends sports simulation with a “gacha” system, a popular monetization mechanism in video games, particularly in Asia. Players spend in-game currency, or real money, to unlock new characters and support tools at random.
Horseracing Japan’s most popular betting sport
And the impact isn’t just digital. Horse racing is Japan’s most popular betting sport, generating 3.3 trillion yen (around $23 billion) in 2023 alone. Races like the Japan Cup regularly draw over 80,000 spectators to Tokyo Racecourse — one of the largest crowds in global horse racing.
The success of Umamusume has started to reshape the audience for the sport. Once dominated by middle-aged male bettors, Japan’s racetracks are now attracting a younger, more diverse fanbase, many of them young women inspired by the game. Some players even make real-world pilgrimages to visit the actual stables of their favorite in-game horses. One viral post on X reminded fans that visiting Haru Urara requires a reservation, urging people to be respectful.
Global expansion just getting started
Since its global expansion, Umamusume: Pretty Derby has generated $6.6 million in mobile revenue outside Japan, according to estimates from AppMagic. The bulk of that — about $4.3 million in just 18 days — came from the United States, which is currently the only Western market to surpass six figures in spending.
The concept may be unusual, as gaming site, Game8, summed it up bluntly: “There’s no delicate way to put this: the premise of Umamusume: Pretty Derby is weird. Even by anime game standards, it’s weird.”
But weird just might work. Whether the horse girls can cast the same spell on U.S. players as they did in Japan remains to be seen, but so far, they’re off to a strong start.
Harry Fogle (Video Editor) contributed to this report.
