2020 saw Sega hit the reset button on its long-running RPG franchise,Sakura Wars. The year saw the western launch of apretty good PS4 reboot, alongsidea new anime, agreat-looking stage show, and aslew of new trademarks, with a clearly stated intent torevitalize the brandfor the new decade.
Unfortunately, this plan might have hit a particularly brutal pitfall, as it is being reported that DelightWorks’ brand new mobile releaseSakura Revolution: Hanasaki Maidenshas completely flopped at launch, with aBusiness Journal article(translated byResetera user Joseki) stating that the free-to-play gacha title has raked in a paltry ¥73 million (roughly $703,000 USD) in its first month of release, debuting 215th in the mobile sales ranking charts.
While a six-figure sum is nothing to be sniffed at in isolation, in contrast it is stunningly low revenue for an Asian mobile game to achieve during its debut month, with the modest of titles generally expected to launch within the Top 50, at the very least. The real concern lies in the offset ofSakura Revolution’sdevelopment and marketing budget, which industry analysts believe to be somewhere in the region of ¥3 billion – or abewildering$30 million USD.
If all of the above proves to be correct, (this is mostly analyst chatter, as opposed to official figures from Sega), then the biggest worry is howSakura Revolutionmight impact Sega’s plans for theSakura Warsre-launch. The franchise still has plenty of fans, (myself included), and has even pulled new players into the fold with its recent endeavors, but ifSakura Revolutionis truly the financial disaster that is being spoken about in hush-hush terms, then Sega might decide that it is time this legendary series faces its final curtain, and givenSakura Wars‘ energy, character, and legacy, that would be a terrible shame.
Sakura Wars mobile game revenue “a catastrophe”[Business Journal /Resetera]
