Despite being somewhat niche compared to most popular Japanese game franchises, the Fate series, but especially the mobile RPG Fate/Grand Order, happens to be one of the most lucrative around, with FGO having made billions in 2019 alone. It should come as no surprise then that the game continues to make Sony an impressive profit in 2020.
Most fans might not know this, but Aniplex, the publisher of Fate/Grand Order, is a subsidiary of Sony Music. This is a fact that industry analyst Daniel Ahmad brought up when discussing how Sony’s most recent fiscal earnings report highlighted its mobile game revenue separately from the rest of its gaming revenue.
According to said earnings report, in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (April 1 to June 30), the total net sales from mobile games was a hefty $241 million, and nearly all of it came from in-app purchases inside FGO. Needless to say, it seems that, even after three years of being available outside Japan, new players are still getting into Fate/Grand Order.
Going forward, Ahmad says, the plan is for Sony to explore future growth through “pan entertainment digital contents” like FGO, which can be seen in such moves like Sony’s recent investment in Epic Games and Chinese media platform Bilibili. He went on, stating that future earnings reports will highlight these ventures separately, much like how mobile gaming was highlighted separately this time around.
Fate/Grand Order is free-to-play on iOS and Android devices.