At the end of last week, Bilibili removed the Uma Musume Pretty Derby game from Chinese Android stores and the App Store. The official reason is technical work, but the network suspects that it was deleted at the request of the authorities.
Uma Musume Pretty Derby is a game based on the popular anime of the same name. In it, users play as pony girls who compete at the racetrack.
As users of Chinese social networks noticed, Uma Musume Pretty Derby was removed from mobile stores two weeks after its release in China. In their opinion, the regulator issuing licenses for publishing games in the country could have insisted on this. Perhaps he was not satisfied with the fact that Uma Musume Pretty Derby encourages gambling, i.e., betting on equestrian sports. In addition, the game has gacha mechanics.
After the incident, Bilibili shares fell 11.8% to $13.56 per share.
Uma Musume Pretty Derby was originally released in Japan in 2021. Sensor Tower estimates that in the two years since its release, the mobile version of the title alone has earned over $2 billion.