Umamusume: Pretty Derby developer Cygames to sponsor this year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint

Not sure what part of our audience are fans of thoroughbred racing, but this is somewhat gaming related so here goes. Cygames, the developer and publisher of Granblue Fantasy and wait for it…Umamusume: Pretty Derby will be sponsoring one of the races of this year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

When the horses and their jockeys stride up to the starting gates of the Breeder’s Cup Sprint, you’ll be able to spot Cygames’ logo on the Saddle Towels of every horse participating in the race as well as the starting gate. The Breeder’s Cup Sprint is one of the fourteen racings that will be taking place November 1st to the 2nd at the Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California.

So why would a game company sponsor a horse race in the US where horse racing is a rather niche sport? Well the company is about to release Umamusume: Pretty Derby and this is actually a quite on point promotional tactic. For those unaware Umamusume features anthropomorphized horse girls who both race and are idols. The concept is so “LOL Japan”, but when you give it a shot you’ll find a quite endearing story to the girls that are the focus of the franchise. While the game has been out in Japan since 2021, the franchise is about to make their US debut, so this sponsorship might bring eyes to the franchise which also has an anime (available domestically on Crunchyroll), music (I mean they’re also idols) and manga.

The 2024 Breeders’ Cup World Championship will be taking place November 1st and 2nd. The Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint will happen on Saturday November 2nd at 5:25pm.

The localized version of Umamusume: Pretty Derby currently does not have a release window.