Despite Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond being review bombed by angry players, the free-to-play game has already generated millions of dollars just weeks after its launch. The TCG battler might be one of the lowest-rated games of all time on Steam, but it’s making bank!

‘Shadowverse’ Makes $20 Million at launch, Shaking off review bombing on Steam

In case you missed it, the launch of Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond seemed to be in a tumultuous state initially. Just days after its release, Shadowverse became one of the top 10 lowest-rated games on Steam. The TCG still has a Mostly Negative rating, as thousands of players flooded the game’s store page with negative reviews. Many users called the game greedy, pay-to-win, and not F2P-friendly. However, it appears players frustrated with the Cygames title are in the minority.

According to sales tracker AppMagic, Shadowverse is the second highest-grossing CCG (Collectible Card Game) in the world right now. In June alone, Worlds Beyond made over $20 million from in-game purchases. That puts Shadowverse directly behind Pokemon TCG Pocket, which made $50 million in June 2025. And yeah, I know, the Pokemon card game makes a lot of money. But considering Shadowverse was bombarded with so many negative reviews, it’s incredible that it’s the #2 CCG game in the world.

If nothing else, this is kind of proof that review-bombing doesn’t always work. While many Shadowverse players may be disappointed, there are a lot of users who are spending like crazy in the Japanese TCG. Then again, this might also bolster the claims that the game mostly “targets whales.” This was a criticism many of the negative reviews on Steam were alleging. Regardless, Shadowverse is by all metrics a massive success — Mostly Negative Steam reviews be damned.

Players React to ‘Worlds Beyond’s’ Massive financial Success

Players reacted to the massive success of Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond with mixed reactions. While some were only further frustrated, others pointed out that negative reviews don’t always mean that a game is going to fail. Many users of the TCG sounded off on the Shadowverse subreddit forum.

“Review bombing does nothing, money and playing talks more than anything,” a user wrote. Another defeatedly replied, “It’s over. This system is here to stay, they will double down now.” One comment even exclaimed, “Looks like they ended up in the sweet spot between greedy enough to make whales spend a good amount, and not too greedy to scare away the casuals to keep the population up.” Not everyone in the community was so critical, though.

While some players argued the game was flawed, they pointed out that Shadowverse is still a fun TCG with polished graphics. It should also be pointed out that Worlds Beyond is massive in Japan, especially as a mobile title. Interestingly, it appears that AppMagic doesn’t track money spent through the official Shadowverse website. So, its revenue might even be substantially higher. Pokemon TCG Pocket, in comparison, only offers sales through the app. It would be interesting to see how close the two CCGs are to each other.