Umamusume: Pretty Derby Nearly Doubles Steam Player Count — All for One Support Card

Umamusume: Pretty Derby (Image Credit: Cygames)

On July 16, 2025, Umamusume: Pretty Derby witnessed a major spike in popularity on Steam, thanks to the global release of the much-anticipated Fire at My Heels: Kitasan Black SSR Speed Support Card.

According to SteamDB, the PC version hit a new all-time peak player count of 87,453, a significant jump from its previous peak of around 50,000. This surge also helped the game climb the Steam sales charts, taking the top spot in the U.S. and second place globally.

The Kitasan Black SSR card is considered a meta-defining addition in Umamusume, especially in the Japanese version, where it’s been a go-to Speed support card for years. What sets it apart is its high Speed stat boost, increased training appearance frequency at max Limit Break, and valuable skills like Professor of Curvature, Corner Recovery, and Straightaway Recovery. Once fully uncapped and leveled to 45, the card becomes a powerhouse for optimizing career runs and PvP builds.

But getting there isn't easy—or cheap. Players typically need three duplicates of the card to max it out, and that level of investment can mean spending a hefty amount of real money. Knowing this, many long-time players saved their in-game currency or even stopped playing temporarily in anticipation of this banner drop, creating the perfect storm for a spike in engagement.

Interestingly, this banner didn’t just feature Kitasan Black. The second SSR on offer is The Will to Overtake: Satono Diamond, a Stamina support card. However, many players still prefer the older Super Creek SSR for stamina builds due to its Swinging Maestro skill, which remains dominant in that category.

This sudden player boom has also widened the gap between Umamusume and another popular gacha title, Persona 5: The Phantom X. Although both games launched just a day apart in June, Persona 5: The Phantom X has a peak player count of 23,106 on Steam as of July 17, 2025, far behind Umamusume’s latest milestone.

For those new to Umamusume, the core gameplay revolves around selecting a horse girl (or “Uma”), equipping a deck of support cards, and guiding them through a training-focused career mode that has roguelike elements. While it may seem straightforward at first glance, the game hides a lot of strategic depth, especially in PvP, where min-maxing is the norm.

One notable aspect of this recent spike is how dedicated the player base is. Many players have gone as far as rerolling accounts—deleting and starting over—to get Kitasan Black with better rolls. This sort of mass rerolling behavior further boosted player activity during the banner’s early days.

It’s also worth noting that while the PC numbers are impressive, Umamusume still has a larger player base on mobile, which isn't even reflected in SteamDB.

The Kitasan Black banner runs until August 1, 2025, so players still have time to try their luck.