Umamusume: Pretty Derby (ウマ娘 プリティーダービー, Umamusume Puritī Dābī) is a Japanese anime horse-girl racing game by Cygames. The Japanese version was released on February 24, 2021 on mobile, and March 10, 2021 on PC. The English version was released on June 26, 2025. The game is available for download on the Apple App Store, Google Play, and Steam.
About[]
Umamusume: Pretty Derby is a sports-life simulation title in which the player is tasked with training an umamusume, or horsegirl, for umamusume races. The game is a gacha title in which the player can acquire new trainees through randomized pulls similar to the nature of a gachapon machine.
In the game's world, umamusume are anthropomorphic horsegirls that are based on real-life racehorses, most of whom raced in Japan as part of the Japan Racing Association. The lives and careers of each of the umamusume in the game are adapted from their real-life counterparts, taking inspiration from the lives of the horses themselves, as well as their trainers, jockeys, and owners.
The player's role, as trainer, is to train the umamusume, giving them the ability to acheive their individual dreams as they run in races based on real-life horse races. The races themselves are presented in full 3D graphics with commentary matching the style of real-life horseracing commentary. Following each race, the winners take center stage in a life concern performance as a means of giving thanks to their fans.
Launch history[]
On March 24, 2017, Cygames released a first gameplay teaser. According to it you'll be able to compete in races, train your umamusume, read through story sections and participate in live shows. Similar trailer showcasing more umamusume was released in the same year on July 1.
In an interview with Famitsu, one of the developers of Umamusume stated that the current development status is around 25%. They plan to release more information about the gameplay at AnimeJapan2017. A short statement on the planned release date was also given: "こ、今年のG1が終わるまでには…..！" ("By the end of this year's G1...!") More information can be found on the fanmade site.
Three further gameplay teasers were released on April 19, 2018 which showcased a race, a live show and a story/training section. The original videos are currently set to private and can only be found on unofficial channels.
On December 15, 2018 the game was officially delayed, with an unknown release date in 2019.
On December 26, 2019 the game was once again officially delayed. The development team has stated they are working very hard to release the game (as well as the UmaYon Anime) in 2020.
According to the Q2 CyberAgent meeting that occurred on April 22, the game was still on track to be released in 2020.
In an interview with XTrend, KMR (Kimura Yuito), the current director of the game, was asked the following question: " "Umamusume" is a title whose release has been postponed in the past, will there be many changes?"
KMR replied: "It was difficult to make, so I spent a lot of time on trial and error, but I think the game will be of high quality." " [1]
The game was still on track to be released in 2020 according to the Q3 CyberAgent meeting that occurred on July 22nd.[2]
The game was set to be released in December according to the month's CyberAgent meeting.[3] However in the second Paka Live TV livestream that took place on December 19th, the game's release date was officially stated to be February 24th 2021. The livestream also showcased two new game trailers titled "I want to run faster than anyone else", one version being 15 seconds long and the other 30 seconds long. More information about the game was revealed on January 16 in the third Paka Live TV, new mentioned features being Succession and Multiplayer.
Translated Gameplay Basics which were seen in above video can be found here.
Pre-registration by App Store and Google Play was made available on February 10 and the predownload followed soon after on February 22.
On June 26, 2025, the game launched globally with a new English-language version. Starting at the equivalent of the Japanese version's 1.0 launch, the global release is on an accelerated event release schedule as it catches up with the Japanese-version content. On November 11, 2025, the global release received a large-scale update that added numerous gameplay mechanics, balance adjustments, and quality-of-life refinements that had previously been added to the Japanese version over time.
Game Mechanics[]
Basic Overview[]
Umamusume: Pretty Derby is a training and racing simulator in which the player, as a trainer, advances an umamusume of their choice through the game's Career Mode. In Career, the player selects a trainee, and then selects two veteran umamusume (trainees that previously completed Career Mode) to provide inspiration in the form of stat and skill boosts. The player also constructs a deck of six support cards that provide their own additional boosts as Career Mode progresses.
In Career Mode, the game advances on a turn-by-turn basis over the course of three years. Each umamusume has their own career goals, and the paths they take determine which races they'll run. Each turn, the player may choose to raise one of their trainee's five core statistics: Speed, Stamina, Power, Guts, and Wit. Alternatively, the player may choose to enter their trainee in a race to potentially earn more fans and skill points, use skill points to unlock skills for the umamusume to use in a race, take the umamusume on a recreation outing to improve their mood, or rest to recover energy spent in training and racing.
At key points in in the Career path, the trainee will need to meet a certain criteria in order to advance further. Most often, this means running in a specific race and meeting the placing requirement. The outcomes of races in Umamusume are determined by the trainee's stats and skills. The better their stats and the more skills they have access to, the better their odds of placing high or winning. Otherwise, the player has no direct influence on the outcome of a race. It is up to the trainee to put their training to use.
Throughout Career Mode, there is a a chance of events playing out on any given turn. Some of these events are specific to the Career scenario being played and will be the same for all trainees. Others are events tied to the support cards the player chose at the start, and yet others are specific to the trainee themselves. The events that appear are randomized, with some having positive effects, such as providing stat boosts to the trainee, while others are negative and may cause their mood to go down or inflict them with a medical condition that's only curable by spending a turn at the infirmary.
If the trainee completes all of their Career objectives, they will achieve the Normal Ending criteria for Career Mode, and will become eligible for the URA Finale: a gauntlet of additional races that the trainee must place first in in order to advance. If the trainee wins the URA Finale, their "Good Ending" will be unlocked. Otherwise, they will reach their "Normal Ending" instead.
Career Scenarios[]
Career Mode features multiple baseline scenarios that are the same for all trainees. Each scenario has its own special conditions and rules that affect progress. In the Unity Cup scenario, for example, the player must not only manage the training of their own trainee, but the linked training of a team of umamusume competing in the special Unity Cup races that occur periodically throughout the scenario path. This team training features game mechanics unique to the Unity Cup story.
Videos[]
Links[]
- umamusume.com
- Google Play Store page
- Apple App Store page
- Steam Store page
- Twitter account
- Facebook page
- Youtube channel
- Discord server