Fate/Grand Order

Did You Know?

• The game features turn-based combat where players use Command Cards of three types: Buster, Arts, and Quick.
• The game's English-language version was released in the United States and Canada on 25 June 2017.

Plot

The story unfolds across three main chapters, each one only accessible after finishing the one before it. In 2015, the Chaldea Security Organization brings together specialists from both magical and ordinary backgrounds to monitor humanity’s future for potential extinction events. For a while, the outlook is stable, with human survival seemingly guaranteed for at least a hundred years. Then, without warning, the forecast shifts: total eradication is now predicted by the end of 2016.

The cause remains a mystery, though it seems connected to the town of Fuyuki in Japan and the Fifth Holy Grail War that took place there in 2004. To counter this threat, Chaldea deploys an experimental time-travel method called Rayshift. Using this technology, a newly recruited young man or woman named Ritsuka Fujimaru—whose gender the player chooses—along with a mysterious girl named Mash Kyrielight, journeys back to 2004 to uncover how to avert the disaster.

A grand order to challenge fate is issued, aiming to alter the past and reclaim the future. After the events in Fuyuki, Ritsuka and Mash must repair the Foundation of Humanity by recovering powerful Holy Grails. These Grails, which can grant any wish, also create anomalies known as Singularities that endanger human existence. The pair Rayshifts to various historical eras, from Orleans to Okeanos and even ancient Babylonia, to retrieve them.

Along the way, Ritsuka meets the main antagonist, the Mage-King Solomon, who reveals he orchestrated the plan to wipe out humanity. He warns that Chaldea’s efforts will be futile unless they collect every single Holy Grail, then departs. Once all seven Grails are secured, Fujimaru and their Servant advance to Ars Paulina, the throne where Solomon once ruled.

Development and release

Kinoko Nasu first sketched out the concept for Fate/Grand Order under the name "Fate Online Project Reboot." This was originally planned as a massively multiplayer online game, drawing from designs and ideas that would later appear in the Fate/complete material IV Extra material book. However, that MMO project was canceled and put on hold during its early planning phase. Some of its concepts were later repurposed into the novel Fate/Apocrypha.

In 2014, Aniplex approached Nasu about revisiting the shelved game. They partnered with the studio Delightworks to turn the idea into a mobile role-playing game instead. Aniplex published the result, launching it in Japan on Android on July 29, 2015, followed by an iOS release on August 12 of the same year. Singer Maaya Sakamoto contributed four theme songs: "Shikisai," "Gyakko," "Yakudo," and "Tokei."

Beyond its main story and core gameplay, the game runs special events that let players earn new items and Servants. These include summoning campaigns for limited Servants or Craft Essences, events focused on specific Servants, real-world annual celebrations, and crossovers with other Type-Moon works like The Garden of Sinners and Fate/Zero.

On January 1, 2017, a sub-sequel to the main storyline was announced, bearing the subtitle "Epic of Remnant." Later, on April 16, 2017, Aniplex of America revealed that Fate/Grand Order would launch in the United States during the summer of 2017. Director and Creative Producer Yosuke Shiokawa noted that while the game was originally intended only for Japan, the team saw how many overseas players were accessing it and decided to expand its availability.

Since the North American servers went live, they have stayed roughly two years behind the Japanese servers, matching the same gap that existed between the two regions' initial launches. On December 26, 2017, the game's official website and Twitter account were altered to appear as if they had been hijacked, teasing a sequel. The subtitle for that sequel, "Cosmos in the Lostbelt," was announced on January 1, 2018. It was released as an expansion to the main game on the Japanese server starting in spring 2018.

On April 20, 2018, it was announced that the North American server had become officially accessible in Australia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Reception

By October 2018, Fate/Grand Order had been translated into five languages and made available in ten different countries. Worldwide downloads hit 32 million, with over 4 million coming from the English version. In September 2019 alone, it saw 7 million new downloads, outpacing both Fortnite and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Japan, where the game first launched, saw its popularity rival that of Pokémon Go.

By May 2018, Japanese downloads had exceeded 13 million, and that number rose to 14 million by August of the same year. The game also found an audience in North America; after its Android release in the U.S. and Canada in June 2017, it quickly surpassed 1 million downloads. In China, the iOS version launched on September 29, 2016, followed by the Android version on October 13, 2016. By 2019, it was the most talked-about game on Twitter.

Financially, the game performed strongly from the start. It generated significant revenue between 2015 and 2016. In 2017, it earned a substantial amount in Japan from January to early October, as well as in China. That same year, it became the sixth highest-grossing mobile game worldwide.

In 2018, it earned at least a certain amount globally, ranking as Japan’s second highest-grossing mobile game for the year and also bringing in considerable revenue from overseas during the first half. For the entire year, it led all mobile games in worldwide consumer spending. In China, its income made up the majority of what its operator, Bilibili, earned in 2017. The game made headlines in 2018 when a 31-year-old Japanese man, known only as Daigo, said he had spent $70,000 on Saint Quartz, the in-game currency used to summon Servants.

He continued spending to acquire high-level characters and then to strengthen them. In an interview, he explained, “Some people spend $18 on a movie and feel moved. I’ve spent $70,000 on FGO. But it moves me.” This story underscored the game’s intense appeal. According to the Wall Street Journal, Fate/Grand Order helped drive Sony’s rising operating profit. As of March 2018, the app was generating an average of $2.5 million every day.

Other media

A television film special called Fate/Grand Order: First Order debuted on December 31, 2016, adapting the game’s opening storyline. Studio Lay-duce produced it, with Hitoshi Nanba directing. The main voice cast included Nobunaga Shimazaki, Rie Takahashi, and Ayako Kawasumi, playing characters sent back in time to stop humanity’s looming extinction. Aniplex of America handled the North American license, while MVM Films released it in the UK.

A follow-up short, Fate/Grand Order: Moonlight/Lostroom, aired exactly one year later on December 31, 2017. Hitoshi Nanba and Takurō Tsukada directed it, with scripts by Kinoko Nasu and music by Ryo Kawasaki. Aniplex of America again secured the North American rights. Another short, Fate/Grand Order x Himuro’s World: Seven Most Powerful Great Figures Chapter, came from studio Ufotable.

It was revealed at the Fate/Grand Order Guest Talk Stage in Akihabara Festival 2017 and also aired on December 31, 2017. This animation was based on the four-panel comedy manga Fate/School Life by Eiichirō Mashin, who also wrote the scripts. Takahiro Miura directed, Toshiyuki Kanezawa produced, Masato Nagamori handled character design, and Go Shiina composed the music. CloverWorks animated the game’s seventh chapter, which ran from October 2019 to March 2020.

During the Fate Project New Year’s Eve TV Special 2020, a new two-part OVA series called Fate/Grand Carnival was announced, produced by Lerche. A preview of the first part aired during that special. The main staff from Carnival Phantasm returned for this series. Part one premiered on June 2, 2021, and part two, after two delays, arrived on October 13, 2021.

Aniplex of America licensed the OVA series and launched an English version of its website in August 2021. A Blu-ray release with English dub and Japanese voice tracks was set for October 11. Finally, an anime adaptation of the comedy manga Fate/Grand Order: You’ve Lost Ritsuka Fujimaru was announced during the annual Fate Project New Year’s Eve TV Special on December 31, 2022. Tsuchida directed the series, animated by DLE, and it premiered on February 4, 2023.