While the AAA gaming industry continues to contort itself over diversity quotas, gender ambiguity mandates, and censorship, lest a character’s outfit offends performative non-gaming activists on social media, gacha developers like SHIFT UP are thriving. Their free-to-play title, Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, stands as proof that prioritizing player appeal over corporate virtue signaling pays off.
As of February 15, 2025, PocketGamer.biz reports that Goddess of Victory: NIKKE has now surpassed $1 billion in revenue since its November 2022 launch on Android and iOS. This fanservice-heavy shooter, filled with jiggling android beauties, including dark-skinned and sun-kissed heroines demonstrates that catering to actual gamers remains a profitable strategy, even as Western AAA studios struggle under the weight of their own ideological obsessions.
Let’s talk numbers because unlike corporate DEI press releases, they don’t lie. According to AppMagic, Goddess of Victory: NIKKE peaked immediately, pulling in $106.8 million in November 2022. December followed with $68.4 million, and the game’s anniversary events have consistently driven spending surges. November 2023’s first anniversary saw a 93% spike, reaching $44.9 million, while the second anniversary in November 2024 climbed to $50.4 million as the games best months.
While it’s normal for annual profits of gacha games to diminish with each subsequent year, the amount of effort that goes into continual updates to such games versus the revenue they generate in return is more than substantial, the same of which can’t be said to AAA Western studios who are scrambling, dissolving developers or axing upcoming projects to stop their own financial hemorrhaging.
Their big-budget releases, weighed down by ideological messaging, continue to flop, failing to recoup bloated production costs. Even Japan has felt the impact of ESG-driven mandates, Blue Protocol, a game designed with racial inclusivity and censorship in mind for Western audiences, was ultimately canceled before ever reaching English shores. Yet Bandai Namco still insists on its “unwavering commitment” to inclusivity.
While companies like Square Enix and directors behind recent flops such as Final Fantasy VII Rebirth openly proclaim their commitment to prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) over artistic freedom, the consequences are becoming increasingly clear.
Naoki Hamaguchi himself confirmed that Square Enix now prioritizes “global standards” and “ethical reviews” over creative integrity, leading to the erasure of the Japanese aspect from JRPG due partly to the removal of any content deemed “problematic,” “sexist,” or “ableist” which includes depictions of women who are well endowed or are revealing too much skin.
Meanwhile, as Japan’s AAA gaming industry bends to Western sensitivities, it’s Japanese gamers who are footing Goddess of Victory: NIKKE’s billion-dollar bill. Japan accounts for 58% of the game’s lifetime mobile revenue, bringing in $592.3 million. The U.S. and South Korea lag far behind at 17% each ($175.4 million and $170.8 million, respectively), proving that even combined, they can’t match Japan’s dedication to SHIFT UP’s brand of bouncy eye candy.
And in a surprising twist, as of January 2024, roughly 40% of NIKKE’s Korean player base consists of women, suggesting that the appeal of stylish and attractive robotic heroines extends beyond the gender-driven debates dominating Western gaming discourse.
This hints at the reality that many female players would rather engage with games featuring appealing female characters than those pushing queer, androgynous, or conventionally unattractive designs in the name of inclusivity. While Western studios continue censoring female character designs to strip them of femininity in pursuit of “equality,” NIKKE fully embraces the concept that has stood the test of time: sex sells.
A recent patch update even made a character more revealing, and its events lean heavily into this appeal, “Golden Coin Rush” introduced glamorous bunny girls, “One More Time” exuded cheerful sexiness, and high-profile collaborations with NieR: Automata, Re:Zero, and strangely enough, Dave the Diver have kept players engaged and spending.
Right now, Goddess of Victory: NIKKE is in the midst of its second Neon Genesis Evangelion crossover event, offering players a chance to dive into Evangelion-themed quests, game modes, and storylines.
This collaboration introduces three new Nikkes: Asuka Shikinami Langley: WILLE, Rei Ayanami (Tentative Name), and Sakura Suzuhara, while also bringing back fan-favorite Evangelion units from the previous event: Asuka Shikinami Langley, Rei Ayanami, Mari Makinami Illustrious, and Misato Katsuragi.
The success of NIKKE highlights a clear divide in the gaming industry: a game that fully embraces beauty, fantasy, and stylized character designs—featuring curvaceous robotic maidens of all complexions without being reduced to “tokenized diversity.”
While NIKKE’s fans celebrate the games diverse lineup by opening their wallets, Western developers are caught in an endless cycle of ensuring every character design checks an ever-expanding list of social-ethical requirements, prioritizing forced representation over visual appeal and are subsequently bleeding capital as a result.
Now, contrast that with 2024, regarded as gaming’s “worst year” marked by mass layoffs, underperforming releases as we’re all but certainly heading towards another industry crash. The 2025 GDC report may proudly boast that 32% of developers now identify as women or non-binary, but if the industry is collapsing under the weight of its own ideological preaching, what exactly has been accomplished?
Black developers in the West have been outspoken regarding the AAA gaming industry’s apprehension regarding female character designs that aren’t androgynous or “inclusive,” even if are of color. Meanwhile, NIKKE continues to thrive without bending to such ESG mandates (though Shift Up has opened an ESG role post-IPO).
Instead, the game delivers exactly what players want, consistent free rewards, engaging events, and a vast selection of sexy characters to collect.
While free-to-play gacha games are rightfully criticized for aggressive monetization, NIKKE remains accessible to those who are patient and strategic, proving that players can enjoy its content without ever spending money. This balance between compelling monetization and genuine player engagement is exactly why SHIFT UP has built such a dedicated fanbase.
A fanbase that should never be taken for granted.
Had SHIFT UP followed the current trends seen across the AAA games of today, such as the removal of terms like “male” and “female,” while prioritizing “inclusive” character designs that erase femininity for overly masculine facial structures and features, overweight body types, and physical amputations, all while fixating on LGBTQ+ relationships to chase a so-called “global audience” NIKKE would have been dead on arrival like Concord.
While SHIFT UP raked in a billion dollars from Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, Sony, on the other hand, had to swallow a $400 million loss all thanks to their obsession with “body-positive” character designs meant to “appeal to everyone” but ultimately appealed to no one.
While Western studios scrub anything remotely “sexist” or “ableist” into a bland, forgettable mess, NIKKE’s curvaceous heroines are thriving, pulling in over a billion dollars on mobile since 2022. In an industry where AAA developers are too busy chasing ESG-driven social ethics, tripping over themselves to be as inoffensive as possible to benefit political activists at the expense of alienating their core audience of paying customers, one truth remains: creativity and consumer demand still matter.
And SHIFT UP has the numbers to prove it.
Goddess of Victory: NIKKE is available on Android, iOS, and PC.
