According to Sensor Tower, the 4X-Strategic Middle Ages on-line Kingshot for 4 months exceeded $124 million in cumulative global income, with a record rate of new income out of point-of-interactivity. Meanwhile, Kingshot was downloaded more than 8 million times a month in June 2025.
Since Kingshot came online on 24 February 2025, in the past four months alone, the cumulative global income has reached $124 million, 64 per cent higher than the previous Whiteout Survival (infinity winter) period ($75.5 million). The single-month income of $40.3 million in June and the July round-table increase of 34 per cent amounted to $2.4 million.
Sensor Tower data show that the United States market contributed 41 per cent of its income (approximately $50.84 million), while Korea and Japan accounted for 7 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, indicating their strong performance in core markets. In Japan, the download of the 20-day-long Kingshot strategy game (since 28 May) highlighted the success of its localization strategy.
The success of Kingshot stems from its innovative design and precision of market strategies. The game combines the elements of the light tower protection with the 4X strategy and uses a low polygonal art style, lowering the threshold for players. The front stage provides a simple and satisfying cycle of experience through the tower-proof model, the player controls the self-restoration of buildings by the hero and enjoys the pleasure of “weeding” the enemy, and the later stage introduces four-X depth mechanisms, such as urban construction, military management and so forth, which enhances long-term retention and payment rates.
The radical user acquisition strategy of point-to-point interaction was an important driving force behind the outbreak of Kingshot. The game skips the pre-registration stage and goes directly to large-scale advertising, with a 1327 per cent increase in the volume of advertising in March and close to 1,500 creative advertisements running daily. North America accounted for 25 per cent of advertising expenditure, of which the United States was over 14 per cent. Advertising material focuses on the “hotness” of the focus towers, such as the shock images of the hero’s enemy and the army’s rivalry, which effectively attracts players’ eyes.
In addition, the game uses the gacha mechanism (tick card), with the user life-cycle value (LTV) estimated at $200, while the App Store single download fee (RPD) of $15.91 is higher than Google Play’s $6.65, showing its high liquidity in the iOS market. Sensor Tower argued that Kingshot was only four months into top 3 of the offshore income list, demonstrating its high growth and liquidity, and promising to become a global SLG class of phenomenon-class product.
Looking to the future, Kingshot promises a long-term success in replicating Whiteout Survival, especially in Western markets (United States, Europe). Revenues may continue to climb if the new integration of towers with 4X can be further explored and the Japanese and Korean markets expanded.