Recently, bilibili Game announced that the mobile version of Dead Cells in Simplified Chinese has passed 5 million copies in sales. The game's has sustained popularity since it was launched 2 years ago, dominating the Top Paid Games list in the App Store for 19 days in mainland China during the month of August this year.
As a widely acclaimed RogueVania action-platformer, Dead Cells has won The Games Award (TGA) 2018 for Best Action Game and the 2018 Golden Joystick Awards for Best Indie Game. In February 2021, bilibili Game introduced the mobile version of Dead Cells into the Chinese market, and over 2 million copies were sold within the first five months of launch. In 2022, the sales doubled to 4 million copies, and as of August 2023, its sales volume has exceeded 5 million.
The success of Dead Cells has won bilibili praise from gamers. Founded in 2009, bilibili (NASDAQ: BILI) is the leading video community in mainland China, famous for its scrolling danmu (bullet curtain) commenting system. As of the second quarter of 2023, the number of monthly active users of bilibili has reached 324 million.
After over a decade of development, bilibili began expanding to a broader audience from its original video creation and sharing business focused on animation, comics, and games (ACG). Building an ecosystem that consistently generates high-quality content centered around its users and creators.
Bilibili Game is based on the unique game community culture of bilibili and has become one of the leading game brands in China. Its business scope includes an exclusive agency for the publishing, channel cooperation, and operation of game products within China and internationally, as well as the independent development of games.
Dead Cells has become a phenomenal independent Roguelike game and a successful example of introducing overseas independent games into China. The record-high sales of Dead Cells in the past two years reflect the steady progress of bilibili Game as a Chinese game publisher in the game introduction and publishing business.
Since then, another bilibili Game exclusive, the action game F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch, was released in 2021, receiving an 80/100 on Metacritic and receiving an 8/10 from IGN. The game also ranked in the Top 10 domestic single-player game sales in 2021.
Following the successful launch of F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch, 2022 saw the release of the roguelite game Warm Snow. Its PC version quickly ascended to number one on the global best-selling list of Steam and also became the bestseller of domestically produced single-player games in China that year. As of May 2023, the sales volume of PC and mobile versions combined has exceeded 2 million.
In addition to the achievements in the field of hardcore console and PC games, bilibili, which started out with ACG content, has also established its position in the popular anime game market in East Asia.
In August 2023, the hit mobile game Uma Musume Pretty Derby, produced by the well-known Japanese video game development studio Cygames, was released in mainland China and published exclusively by bilibili Game. It quickly ranked first on the Top Free Games in the App Store.
One of bilibili Game’s signature releases, Fate/Grand Order, has been steadily running for seven years since its Chinese version was first launched in September 2016. It topped the App Store's top-grossing games rank several times and was among the Top 10 highest-grossing ranks hundreds of times.
The same is true of Uma Musume Pretty Derby, Princess Connect! Re: Dive, also developed by Cygames. When its Chinese version was published by bilibili Game in 2020, it soon rocketed to the Top 2 on the top-grossing rank in the App Store and remains an enduring popular game today.
In addition, the highly anticipated 3D real-time battle RPG mobile game Higan: Eruthyll, self-developed and published by bilibili Game, was launched overseas in the first half of this year. It topped the Top Free Games in App Store in the United States, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and other regions in the first week of its release, made it to the Top 10 game bestsellers in 5 countries/regions, and ranked in the Top 100 game bestsellers in dozens of countries/regions, establishing the game’s reputation among overseas anime players.
Since starting the gaming business in 2014, bilibili Game has made achievements in both agency work and publishing. In the future, bilibili Game will adhere to the principle of game quality first, providing players with high-quality game services and introducing more game products with excellent quality.
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