4399's Mobile Game Rakes in 2.8 BILLION Yen in 2 Months in Korea — Matching Honkai: Star Rail Numbers, Players Are Stunned

A game that looks like a browser-based reskin rakes in 2.8 billion yen in just 2 months in Korea — matching Honkai: Star Rail's launch window. Sounds like a fever dream, but the receipts don't lie.

The original poster was browsing Game-i (a Japanese game revenue tracking site) when they stumbled upon a new title called '버섯커 키우기' (Mushroom Hero Legend, Korean version) with a jaw-dropping 2.826 billion yen revenue in just 2 months. Even more shocking: the publisher turned out to be Joy Net Games, an overseas publishing brand under 4399 — a Chinese company notorious for low-budget browser games. The OP shared data screenshots showing a revenue curve that shoots up like a rocket.

The comment section went nuclear. A top-voted reply went straight to the point: 'Wait, 2.8 billion yen?! In 2 months?! That's destroying most Japanese games. How is this even possible? Feels like faked numbers to me.' Others chimed in noting they'd seen this game's ads plastered all over Twitter, hinting at massive user acquisition (买量) spending.

But the doubters were quickly shut down by someone who brought actual data. One commenter posted the Korean server's revenue and download charts, pointing out: 'This game already proved itself on other servers — it even topped Korea's OVERALL revenue charts, not just the gacha sub-category. Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan numbers were strong too.' The screenshots showed unmistakable breakout-hit trajectories on both free and top-grossing charts.

The 'faked revenue' theory was also addressed logically. One user cited Colopl (a Japanese studio caught inflating numbers) as proof that it happens — but another pointed out the economics make no sense: 'Think about who actually cares about revenue charts — investors and fanboys. Would buying fake revenue help attract real players? If anything, those people are more trouble than they're worth.' The cost of faking 2.8 billion yen in verifiable revenue on multiple platforms would be astronomical.

The real eye-opener came from an industry-savvy poster who broke down how these 'buy-traffic' (买量) games actually work. 'Most Chinese game companies make exactly this type of game. Waifu/gacha games are the minority. These games keep the same core mechanics, swap out the art skin, and a smaller studio can crank one out in 4-5 months. If the beta test flops, they kill it and reskin another one. Hit the jackpot and it goes viral — like Idle Fish King (咸鱼之王) or Dadao Xunqian. Low investment, millions in revenue minus ad spend = pure profit. Pop the champagne.'

But the most brutal truth bomb came next: 'These games target the downmarket crowd — most players are 30+ years old. That's why you never hear from their playerbase on sites like NGA or Bilibili. Want to actually compete? Fork over thousands of yuan for top-tier cards. Miss a 10,000-yuan recharge and you'll never get those units as a free player.' That one sentence explained why this entire parallel universe of gaming is completely invisible to core gamers despite being arguably bigger than the entire gacha market.

One commenter summed it up perfectly: 'NGA massively underestimates buy-traffic games. Idle Fish King is the textbook example — consistently pulling over 100 million yuan monthly. And their playbook? Go absolutely ham on ads: start small, prove ROI, then scale spending to the moon.'

Reading through the whole thread, the real takeaway isn't that a 4399 reskin made insane money — it's that the comments accidentally unveiled an entire parallel gaming industry that most core gamers have zero awareness of. While gacha games fight tooth and tooth over the same niche audience, these 'ugly' reskins are quietly printing money. If that doesn't sting, nothing will.