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Kuro Games’ gacha RPG Wuthering Waves has surpassed $250 million in gross mobile revenue in a little over nine months.
The open-world anime-style game was released globally on May 22nd, 2024 and crossed the quarter-of-a-billion mark 288 days later on March 6th, 2025, according to AppMagic estimates.
Ending that day at $250.8m, Wuthering Waves has since reached $255.5m with an average of $878,000 in daily player spending since launch.
These estimates are for global player spending on the App Store and Google Play, and do not include revenue from other platforms, alternative app stores or any web store.
Riding the waves
Wuthering Waves sailed to its first $100m in less than two months following global release, with Kuro Games’ major changes to its game design and narrative overhaul quickly bearing fruit. The title earned Kuro Games a prime position in our Top 50 Mobile Game Makers 2024 list and sped past $150m shortly thereafter.
While revenue had slowed from its early highs, player spending picked up again in January 2025, generating $37.1m, marking the game’s second most lucrative month ever on mobile. The figure was behind Wuthering Waves’ first full month in June 2024 at $62.2m.
The January surge was driven by the launch of Version 2.0, spiking player spending by 326% month-over-month.
This was Wuthering Waves’ most significant update yet and took place on January 2nd, kickstarting the year with new gacha character Carlotta, Chapter Two of the main story, more bosses, multiple side quests and a new region with eight entire areas to explore.
Daily revenue rose by 178% on the day of the update to $2.4m and more banners have achieved similar spikes in the months since – hastening the game’s previously established pattern of peaks and troughs.
Though revenue hasn’t maintained its January highs, it did spike again by 169% on the day of the Version 2.1 update, February 13th, to $2m.
More recently, daily revenue reached $2.1m upon the release of another gacha character and captain of the Troupe of Fools, Brant, on March 6th.
June 6th, 2024 still remains Wuthering Waves’ single most lucrative day at over $5.4m with the release of Yinlin.
Coast to coast
While Japan represents Wuthering Waves’ biggest contributor to player spending, the country’s lead isn’t as overwhelming as is the case for many mobile gachas.
Nintendo’s Fire Emblem Heroes makes 50% of its revenue from players in Japan, for example, while Shift Up’s Goddess of Victory: Nikke makes nearly 60% of its earnings from the country.
In Wuthering Waves’ case, 28% of its earnings have come from Japan, equivalent to $72.3m in spending. This isn’t miles ahead of China’s 22% contribution, equating to $55.5m. Shift Up’s home country South Korea is neck and neck with the US at approximately 15% each, or $38.8m and $36.7m respectively.
The title’s success has helped Kuro Games earn further investment from Chinese conglomerate Tencent, which now owns a majority 51.4% stake in the company.
