Have you ever wondered what the Kentucky Derby would look like if, instead of horses, you'd see anime girls compete to see who comes out on top? Well, that's Umamusume: Pretty Derby, and it's taking the gaming world by storm.
The concept is inherently weird, and that alone makes it captivating. But quite frankly, did anyone have a free-to-play gacha game about racing anime girls as a top contender for most popular game of 2025?
Where did the game even come from, you might be wondering? The answer, as it turns out, is from a very popular Japanese studio.
What Is Umamusume: Pretty Derby?
Umamusume: Pretty Derby is a franchise created by Cygames, the studio behind IPs such as Granblue Fantasy. The main plot sees great racehorses being able to reincarnate as kemonomimi, humanoid figures with animal ears.
click to enlargeThose who rise to the top are able to enroll in Tokyo's Tracen Academy and compete to become the best horse girl.
Cygames has built an extensive list of Umamusume projects, including several anime seasons, manga, and, of course, games.
Originally slated to release in 2018, the Umamusume: Pretty Derby launched in 2021 for iOS and Android in Japan. Four years later, in June 2025, Cygames decided to bless the rest of the world with anime racing horse girls, and it's been a resounding success.
Why Is Umamusume: Pretty Derby Popular?
In all honesty, it's hard to tell. It's a mixture of Cygames delivering on the wacky premise, ease of access by making it a free-to-play gacha game, extremely high production values, the fact that content creators took a liking to it, and let's face it: anime girls.
While I've personally not dabbled too much in the game (and I'll level with you, I probably won't), my Twitter feed has been bombarded with the likes of Northernlion and other streamers/YouTubers sharing some hilarious Umamusume moments.
At first glance, it does look like your standard gacha game: you spend in-game currency on things such as pulls to get more horse girls, train them to level up their stats, which include things like speed, stamina, sprint, and wit.
It's not as automated as other gachas at the very least. Training can go terribly wrong, hurting their morale and decreasing stats. You also have to keep their stamina in mind, letting them rest to fill up their gauge in order to perform to their best.
The races are very much a passive experience. They're meant to show the results of your practice, and in all honesty, they do convey the excitement of a race pretty well. There's commentary, great dynamic shots, and some fun tunes that elevate this beyond other gacha games that have barely any production tossed into them.
Some three-star racers even come with unique power-ups: cinematic buffs that can come in clutch when they're on a point.
I don't think even Cygames expected this level of popularity. Despite being primarily developed as a mobile experience, the Steam version of the game peaked at 26k players on July 2.
Not only that, but despite being a free-to-play game, Umamusume has been charting in the Steam Top Sellers category consistently for the past week.
It'll be interesting to see if it's a flash in the pan or whether Umamusume will be able to build a dedicated long-term player base. As it stands, the premise alone is carrying the excitement, but if an aggressive monetization system turns fans into begrudging players, they'll likely move to better, greener pastures sooner rather than later.
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