- Developed by Yusu Games · Published by Neptune… 75% of revenue comes from overseas
- AI-powered indie games… US daily revenue increases up to 16-fold
Mobile idle RPG ‘Idle Cat Gunner: Shooter RPG’, developed by K-indie developer Yusu Games and published by Neptune, has surpassed 20 billion won in cumulative revenue just four months after its release.
Daily revenue, which was around 7 million won during the initial publishing phase, increased to a maximum of 350 million won, and the game is also achieving results in the global market, with 75% of total revenue generated overseas.
Neptune (CEO Kang Yul-bin) announced on the 12th that the cumulative revenue of ‘Gunfighter Cat’ has exceeded 20 billion won. It is drawing attention for achieving this result by combining publishing, marketing, and ad tech with a game created by a small indie development team.
A cat with a gun attacks a tree? A simple yet unique idle RPG
‘Gunfighter Cat’ is an idle shooting RPG where a cat holding a gun attacks trees to collect resources and grow its character.
The core of the game lies in repetitive growth. Players attack trees to acquire resources, and upon reaching a certain stage, they enhance their stats through ‘Reincarnation’ to attempt growth again. Based on simple and intuitive controls, it implements the growth structure characteristic of idle RPGs.
Since taking over publishing, Neptune added ‘Exploration’ content to supplement the relatively lacking late-game content. They also improved the overall service by applying a new revenue model and proprietary adtech technology.
Developed on a small scale using AI… ‘Gunfighter Cat’ created by Yugames
Yusu Games, the developer of ‘Gunfighter Cat’, is an indie developer that created the game with a small team. It is particularly noteworthy that they utilized artificial intelligence (AI) during the development process.
However, specific details regarding which fields and to what extent AI was utilized in the actual development process were not disclosed.
Neptune has been in charge of publishing ‘Gunfighter Cat’ since last June. This year, it designated hybrid casual game publishing as one of its three major new businesses and internalized the related development organization by merging its subsidiary Triplela, while also launching the publishing brand ‘Flick’ last March to discover games with external developers.
‘Gunfighter Cat’ is the first major achievement created through collaboration with an external indie developer during this business expansion process.
Daily sales from 7 million won to a maximum of 350 million won… Overseas share also reaches 75%
The results following the publishing were also reflected in the numbers. According to Neptune, based on new users in the first month of publishing, the day-1 retention rate was 50%, and the day-7 retention rate was 25%. ROAS, which represents revenue relative to advertising costs, rose to a maximum of 157%.
Revenue also increased significantly. Daily revenue, which was around 7 million won at the beginning of the publishing contract, rose to a maximum of 350 million won. Based on the simple peak, this represents an increase of approximately 50 times.
Performance in the global market is also notable. As of last September, 75% of total sales were generated overseas, and average daily sales in the U.S. market increased by up to 16 times compared to before the expansion of marketing.
However, 350 million won is the highest daily sales record, and the average daily sales were not disclosed. Key indicators such as cumulative sales, retention rate, ROAS, and the proportion of overseas sales were also figures released by Neptune.
Will the combination of a small development team and a publisher become a new success story?
Kang Yul-bin, CEO of Neptune, said, “‘Gunfighter Cat’ is the first case to numerically prove the potential of the hybrid casual game publishing business,” adding, “Now that we have confirmed Neptune’s publishing capabilities and ad-tech competitiveness in the global market, we will continue to establish ourselves as a partner that helps small-scale developers succeed.”
Neptune plans to continue reflecting user feedback and providing continuous content updates based on the rapid development and decision-making of Yugames.
Recently, the indie game market has seen a steady increase in collaborations where small development teams focus on game production while professional publishers support marketing, monetization, and global services. ‘Gunfighter Cat’ is also drawing attention as an example of combining AI-powered small-scale development with a publisher’s operational expertise.
With ‘Gunfighter Cat’ surpassing 20 billion won in cumulative sales just four months after its release, attention is focused on the next moves of Yusu Games and Neptune to see if it can continue its performance over the long term beyond its short-term success.
Information regarding ‘Idle Cat Gunner: Shooter RPG’
| item | detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | Yusu Games |
| Publisher | Neptune |
| Genre | Idle Shooting RPG · Hybrid Casual |
| platform | mobile |
| Start of publishing | June 2026 |
| Key Features | Idle Growth, Reincarnation, Exploration |
| Cumulative sales | Surpassing 20 billion won |
| Highest daily sales | 350 million won |
| Proportion of overseas sales | 75% (as of September 2026) |
| Key Indicators | Day 1 retention rate 50%, Day 7 retention rate 25%, ROAS max 157% |
| Reactions and evaluations | Cumulative sales surpassed 20 billion won in just 4 months after launch (based on Neptune’s announcement) |
| Google Store Page | Shortcut |
| Apple Store Page | Shortcut |
