Shares of Kakao Games Corp. are running high on successful debut of new title “Uma Musume Pretty Derby,” which ranked top on Apple’s App Store by revenue on the first day of release in Korea.

Kakao Games shares were trading 11.09 percent higher at 56,100 won ($43.46) at 1:57 p.m. Tuesday after losing 10.14 percent during the previous session.

Uma Musume Pretty Derby, a Japanese hit label developed by Cygames, started service in Korea at 11 a.m. Monday. The title zoomed to the top on Apple App Store by 9:40 p.m., a faster pace than the top-tier game publisher NCSoft’s hit label “Lineage W.”

Analysts are expecting daily revenue of around 3 billion won, much higher than the previous market estimation of 0.5-1 billion won. There also is room for further gains after the release of Google Play Store’s app rankings.

The Japanese hit label topped sales from iOS App Store in Japan since the launch in February last year. Based on revenue from the sole Japanese market, it became the world’s second best-selling mobile title in April 2021, according to data compiled by mobile app data tracker Sensor Tower.

It was widely expected to be a hit in Korea as Korean gamers favor subculture genres of games that incorporate anime as well as MMORPGs. Pre-orders for Uma Musume Pretty Derby hit 1 million in just 10 days of opening in Korea.

By Pulse

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