“Project SEKAI COLORFUL STAGE! feat. Hatsune Miku” (commonly known as “Project SEKAI”), the game app for iOS and Android that was released in September 2020 has become a massive hit reaching the 10 million user mark in a little under two years of release (in June 2022). This momentum is not limited to Japan, with users from all over the world currently increasing. Here we take a look behind the scenes of the Project SEKAI hit game.

Project SEKAI is a rhythm and adventure game app for iOS and Android developed and operated in a joint effort between Sega Corporation, the company that brought out the “Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA” series, and Colorful Palette Inc., a game developer.

One of its particular characteristics is its high follower level among the Generation Z age group between 10- and 19-years-of-age, which accounts for about 70% of users. Its fan base has been expanding through diffusion over SNS such as Twitter. The Project SEKAI music videos uploaded to video distribution sites include pieces of music that frequently draw over 10 million views, and it is attracting increasing attention from the music industry.

With “Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA”, the PSP® (PlayStation Portable) software that went on sale in 2009, Sega worked with the original developer of Hatsune Miku, Crypton Future Media, Inc (hereinafter “Crypton”), in launching the first Hatsune Miku IP game project. Since then, Hatsune Miku games have been launched on a variety of platforms, and cumulative unit sales of the series have reached around 6.5 million (units/downloads).

Furthermore, in addition to game development Sega has taken part in various events to capture new fans, such as real live shows with actual audiences. The long history accumulated in tandem with Crypton links in with the success story of Project SEKAI from its advent to reaching smash hit status.

While competition has recently been fierce in the smartphone game market and it is difficult to create a hit game, in the background to the fact that Project SEKAI has been able to reach over 10 million users lies a development framework that tried a new approach, and initiatives to increase touchpoints with users by continuously providing contents and events beyond the borders of the game itself.

First of all, we looked for a partner with a view to taking on a new market. This resulted in the realization of a partnership with Colorful Palette Inc., the smartphone app planning and development company newly launched by Craft Egg Inc., famed for its development and management achievements with “BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!” and we worked on this project with a new setup and collaboratively developed and operated it with them.

Furthermore, we have gained the involvement of Crypton to oversee the project not only as a licensor but also as an entity close to a producer from the start of the project up to the present day.

Making the most of Colorful Palette’s app knowhow, Crypton’s development capabilities deriving from the Hatsune Miku IP, and Sega’s 3D image production technology, the result of all the knowledge and experience of the three companies was the enablement not only of providing users with in-game content but also real live events and a wide range of contents, all of which led the project to success.

In the promotion of the game, we have exerted considerable effort into increasing user touchpoints by providing ongoing contents and events beyond the borders of the game, rather than mass advertising on television commercials and so on. As a result of these efforts, words and phrases connected to Project SEKAI became commonplace in Twitter trends, and the fan- and user-based word of mouth publicity centering on SNS have become one of the factors behind the considerable growth in the number of users.

Moreover, the hosting of real live events in which participants who actually visit the venue can experience the world of Project SEKAI, the “Anniversary Festa” event to mark the first year since release, and the “Thanks Festival” event on its second year have not only expanded touchpoints but also led to the revival of dormant users and opportunities to continuously enjoy Project SEKAI.

We are implementing a marketing measure using SNS to gain the No. 1 trend on Twitter by getting viewers to tweet the program’s designated hashtag during official live broadcasts of the Project SEKAI YouTube. If we gain the No. 1 trend all users are given a gift item in the game, so this measure is displaying an enormous upsurge with us obtaining the No.1 trend with nearly every broadcast.

From September 2020 up to the present day, we have implemented an array of promotions, tie-ins, online video distribution and other marketing measures. As a result, the number of Twitter followers and YouTube channel subscribers has passed the one million mark, and the biggest number of simultaneous viewers during live broadcasts was over 100,000 people.

The global version of Project SEKAI can be played in around 130 countries and regions, including North America and Europe. Currently, many users are enjoying Project SEKAI overseas, with a total of 7.5 million downloads including approximately 3.5 million in Asia excluding Japan (1.5 million for the traditional Chinese version and 2 million for the Korean version) and 4 million in Europe and North America.

Since overseas expansion has a great potential for growth in the future, we are working on various measures to increase the number of users and further enhance earnings, such as creating content for SNS with global expansion in mind and participating in overseas events such as Anime Expo.