Dungeon & Fighter Mobile hits $140 million in first-week revenue in China, shaping up to be new hit for Tencent

Dungeon & Fighter Mobile (DnF Mobile) launched in China last week. Looking at its impressive metrics, the game has every chance to become another big hit for Tencent.

DnF Mobile has generated $63 million in player spending since May 21, Bloomberg reported, citing data from Sensor Tower. The research firm doesn’t track revenue from third-party Android stores (remember, Google Play is not available in China), so this figure only applies to the App Store.

Niko Partners, in turn, estimated the first-week revenue of Dungeon & Fighter Mobile at over $140 million, including player spending across iOS and local Android stores.

Sensor Tower’s numbers are in line with data tracked by AppMagic, which shows that DnF reached $46.2 million in revenue on the App Store in China between May 21 and May 28. The difference in calculations occurs because AppMagic tracks IAP revenue (reduced by platform fees and inclusive taxes), not player spending.

According to Sensor Tower, the iOS version of DnF Mobile also generated 2.6 million downloads. AppMagic estimates the total number of installs at 2.4 million.

Dungeon & Fighter Mobile’s revenue between May 21 and May 28 (via AppMagic)

Bloomberg added that DnF Mobile was the top-grossing game on the Chinese App Store last week, followed by two more Tencent hits — Honor of Kings and Peacekeeper Elite (local version of PUBG Mobile).

Niko Partners analyst Xiaofeng Zeng says Dungeon & Fighter Mobile could generate over $1 billion in revenue for Tencent this year. “Top-notch franchises like DnF have proved their longevity and money-making power,” he noted. “That said, it’s still too soon to tell whether DnF Mobile will be the next Honor of Kings for Tencent. The first-week revenue is in line with our expectation, but that’s the result of aggressive marketing campaigns.”

Dungeon & Fighter is a video game franchise developed by Neople, a subsidiary of South Korean publisher Nexon. It is best known for the MMO of the same name, which has generated over $22 billion in lifetime revenue globally since its launch in 2005. This IP is recognized and beloved in China, given the huge popularity of Dungeon Fighter Online in Asia.

With DnF Mobile, Tencent plans to strengthen its gaming portfolio. In Q4 FY23 ended March 31, the Chinese tech giant reported a 3% decline in its Domestic Games segment’s revenue due to decreased contributions from Honor of Kings and Peacekeeper Elite. So the new title could become a much needed driver of the company’s long-term growth.