This is the E-Guardian Gaming Research Team,
In our first volume, we found social gaming’s most tweeted about topics in Japan, for April 2021! As we’re all stuck at home the game market has been very active. We analyzed the top 30 best-selling titles, and divided them by how much attention they received.

■ The most talked about title was "Uma Musume Pretty Derby"!

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*Time: Between April 1st and April 30th 2021
*Location: Twitter
*Including Retweets
*Ensemble Stars!! includes both “Ensemble Stars!! Basic” and “Ensemble Stars!! Music”
*A detailed breakdown is located at the bottom of this page

Uma Musume Pretty Derby overcame Genshin Impact to become number 1!
In just two months post-release, Uma Musume Pretty Derby has been downloaded over six million times. The game, which is based on horses reborn as real “horse girls,” has been a wild success, attracting gamers and horse racing fans alike.

In April the number of subscribers to the official Uma Musume Pretty Derby YouTube channel "Paka Tube!” (A joke on the Japanese onomatopoetic word for “clip-clop”) increased by 190,000 subscribers in April alone, a sign of the game’s growing popularity.

*The original Japanese Tweet has been edited to be viewed in English

■ Why did the talk on social media increase now?

　Let's take a look at the growth of users' posts, based on the changes in topics throughout the month. Here’s a look at the top three: Uma Musume Pretty Derby, Genshin Impact, and Fate/Grand Order.

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▼Uma Musume Pretty Derby

The growth on April 4th appears to be due to the “Osaka Hai” (also known as the Osaka Cup, a horse race) held at the Hanshin Racecourse.
In Uma Musume Pretty Derby some of the reborn horse-girls are of the same bloodline as the racehorses in the Osaka Hai. Gifts commemorating the race were distributed in the game, and many users, including people who were previously disinterested in horse racing, payed attention to the Osaka Hai.
　The official Twitter account posts an illustration every year at the opening of the Osaka Hai, and this year’s received about 20 times more likes than last year's! Highlighting the ever-growing popularity of the second season of the anime and game.

Lynn, the Japanese voice actor who plays Maruzensky, placed a bet picking the trifecta of 1st 2nd and 3rd place, sparking a new topic of conversation.

*The original Japanese Tweet has been edited to be viewed in English

▼ Genshin Impact

　On April 16th, the official Genshin Impact twitter account posted about the upcoming update. The new areas and events that are scheduled to be implemented were introduced one by one, and the update information was chock-full of new elements, making it very well received! In total over 28 official posts were made about the update, but each tweet received 10,000 to 50,000 likes.

*The original Japanese Tweet has been edited to be viewed in English

▼「Fate/Grand Order」

　When new information was announced on the 26th on YouTube Live and Nico Nico Live, Fate/Grand Order found the most popularity. The highlight of the live broadcast was when details of the "Fate/Grand Order Waltz in the MOONLIGHT/LOSTROOM" collaboration event were released. (Which we will refer to as "FGO Waltz")
　The collaboration with "FGO Waltz" was announced at AnimeJapan 2021, held in March this year. However, until now details and the date of the collaboration were kept under wraps.
But in this live broadcast, details and some of the limited characters were introduced, and it was announced that it would be released right after the live broadcast, which was viewed 600,000 times on YouTube.
　A retweet campaign was also held during live broadcast, and in just over an hour the campaign reached its goal of 70,000 retweets.

*The original Japanese Tweet has been edited to be viewed in English

■Summary

　Uma Musume Pretty Derby is trending in Japan. It's only been three months since its release, but its popularity is unstoppable! Will it come out on top next month, or be defeated by another title... come back soon and find out!
We observed the topic growth and trends in Japan, but there’s always more to research to do, such as analyzing the characteristics of followers, or measuring the effect of promotions. We accept requests for sample reports, so if you are curious, don’t hesitate to contact us through the following link!

https://www.e-guardian.co.jp/eng/service/social/social-listening/

■ Top 30 Most talked about Titles (In order of topic volume)

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■ Notes:

Product names, company names, organization names etc. in the text are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies.

Photo : www.freepik.com