The Japanese simulation game Gakuen Idolmaster achieved over 1.5 million domestic downloads in its launch month, surpassing Supercell’s Squad Busters in Japan between May 16th and June 15th, 2024.

According to Sensor Tower, Gakuen Idolmaster accounted for 40% of Bandai Namco Entertainment’s domestic mobile revenue during its debut month and spent nine consecutive days at the top of Google Play’s revenue chart in Japan.

From May 20th to May 28th, it held the revenue crown on Android, though it had more modest success on iOS, maintaining a top three ranking for eight days during the same period.

The New Star

Gakuen Idolmaster is the latest entry in the nearly two-decade-old idol training franchise, The Idolmaster. The IP has seen multiple mobile iterations since 2015’s The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls Starlight Stage, with the latest title before Gakuen being The Idolmaster Shiny Colors: Song for Prism, released in November 2023. Unlike Song for Prism, developed directly by Bandai Namco, Gakuen Idolmaster was developed by QualiArts and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment.

Gakuen Idolmaster has been well-received by fans, with a majority five-star rating across app stores. During its first month, it had a 90% five-star rating on Apple’s App Store, but only managed a 65% five-star rating on the Play Store despite stronger revenue there.

With 1.5 million downloads across the two major app stores, Gakuen Idolmaster became the most downloaded game in Japan for the period, significantly outperforming Squad Busters. Supercell’s Squad Busters received one million downloads by June 15th, only two-thirds of Gakuen Idolmaster’s achievement. It should be noted that Squad Busters was still in soft launch until May 28th, 12 days after Gakuen’s official launch.

Following Gakuen Idolmaster and Squad Busters, Isekai: Slow Life was the third most-downloaded game of the period, followed by Wuthering Waves and Last War: Survival Game.

Sensor Tower attributed Gakuen Idolmaster’s early success to effective advertising campaigns, the popularity of its source IP, and its "perfection as a mobile game." The simulation title also ranked among May's top 10 highest-grossing mobile games in Japan, achieved despite its mid-month release. Source: adapted from an article by Aaron Astle, News Editor for PocketGamer.biz.