With 2,000 AI Creatives Daily, Century Games’ Kingshot Dominates Mobile Charts in the US, Japan, and Korea in June

Since its launch on February 22, Kingshot has been a standout contender, quickly gaining attention. It follows in the footsteps of its acclaimed predecessor, Whiteout Survival, which succeeded both in China and the global market, topping charts on WeChat and Alipay mini-game platforms. Its recent anniversary celebration further drove record-breaking in-game revenue.

Initially, discussions around Kingshot focused on its light-hearted, Western comic-style art. Early gameplay resembled the indie title Thronefall, featuring idle tower defense combined with upgrade and build mechanics. Later, it transitioned—much like Whiteout Survival—into a standard SLG with simulation, troop deployment, and social competition. Many players view Kingshot as another successful example of Century Games drawing inspiration from console games and infusing them with SLG elements.

At launch, Kingshot barely held onto a spot in the U.S. Top 100, but surged into the Top 50 by February. Compared with its predecessor, Whiteout Survival, which only entered the U.S. Top 50 after three months, Kingshot proved itself a promising rising star.

As expected, Kingshot continued climbing, reaching the U.S. Top 30 in May and breaking into the Top 10 in June. On the free charts, it ranked just behind the returning giant Fortnite.

Alongside its rising chart positions, Kingshot saw rapid growth in daily advertising activity. According to SocialPeta, the game began advertising as early as August 2024. By June 4, it had launched approximately 10,000 creatives across iOS and Android, with daily volume peaking at more than 2,000 in early June—a clear sign that Kingshot was aggressively pursuing growth.

Kingshot’s creatives exhibit two key traits: first, a wide variety of AI-generated assets adapted with prompts and models for different regional markets; and second, a wealth of live-action testimonial-style clips. Together, these formats distinguish the campaign from the puzzle or number-growth gameplay trends currently dominating much of the market.

AI-generated image creatives appear in distinct styles—including realistic medieval art, clean anime, and exaggerated cartoons—with visual treatments adjusted to different market tastes. Compared with image creatives that blend in more naturally, Kingshot’s AI video creatives are especially distinctive and diverse, primarily serving to establish atmosphere, settings, and lore.

A typical composition uses exaggerated differences in scale, creating images reminiscent of giants or extraterrestrials. Camera angles are usually frontal or side-on, while armor details and battlefield backdrops reinforce the sense of world-building.

AI video creatives offer even greater stylistic variety. For instance, oil-painting-inspired visuals often seen in historical explainer videos can create an unexpectedly grand atmosphere. While these assets appear intricately crafted, they also differ significantly from Kingshot’s actual in-game art style.

Realistic Oil Painting-Style Visuals Create a Medieval Epic Ambiance

Some advertising creatives stand in sharp contrast to the game’s aesthetic, including anime-style MAD edits that are visually striking and cute but markedly different from Kingshot’s actual art direction.

Anime-Style Character Mashups

Other creatives adapt narrative tropes familiar to Asian audiences, including short AI-generated story PVs built around dramatic themes: soldiers leave for war while their wives wait at home. The clash of geisha costumes with Western armor adds an intentionally exotic visual contrast.

AI Story Vignette

AI-generated anime shorts are among Kingshot’s most notable creative formats. One advertisement dressed its king character in clothing closely resembling the visual style associated with the anime Ranking of Kings. The plot included deliberately absurd turns such as time travel, bread theft, outrunning police, and an appearance by Hatsune Miku. The quirky storytelling made the ad more entertaining than a conventional game promotion and helped reduce the uncanny valley effect often associated with AI video.

AI Animated Short Drama

In addition to full-length AI videos, Kingshot frequently uses AI-generated intros before transitioning into gameplay or live-action material. One example combines ASMR with DIY clay modeling to create a sensory-rich advertising hook.

AI + ASMR Crafting

Beyond AI, Kingshot also blends virtual and real-world content by combining actors with gameplay scenes. These creatives aim to balance immersion with the game’s strategic appeal.

Live-Action + Game Reenactment

Besides tailor-made intros, Kingshot sometimes borrows viral TikTok-style meme footage as the opening hook before introducing the game.

Live-Action Meme Hooks

Live-Action Lifestyle Scenes + Gameplay

Compared with the more explosive AI and live-action videos, straightforward gameplay demonstrations are less visually varied. Many gameplay creatives reuse the same background music and sound effects while changing the surrounding visual environment. The tower-defense and mowing-style footage resembles a hybrid of number-growth and roguelike gameplay.

Gameplay + Mowing Mechanic

According to SocialPeta, “no ads” is another major selling point in Kingshot’s user-acquisition messaging. The publisher deployed multilingual campaigns in English, Japanese, and Korean emphasizing this feature.

From user acquisition to revenue generation, the SLG genre has long been one of mobile gaming’s most competitive pillars, rivaling the attention given to anime and open-world games in recent years. At the time of the original analysis, two of the most visible competitors were Last War from Singapore-based FirstFun and Century Games’ Whiteout Survival.

They represented two recognizable approaches to the genre: one leaning toward casualized SLG mechanics, celebrity marketing, and secondary-gameplay advertising, and another emphasizing stronger narrative framing together with AI and live-action creative formats.

Unlike publishers focused on a single genre, Century Games has pursued a more diversified portfolio. Even before Whiteout Survival, the company produced casual, simulation, and card-oriented games such as Family Farm Adventure and Food and Travel. Following the success of the winter-apocalypse theme, the company continued investing in idle and mini-game formats and experimenting across multiple product directions.

As a form of self-homage to Whiteout Survival, Kingshot demonstrates the effectiveness of Century Games’ established formula: a solid gameplay foundation supported by diversified content and extensive user-acquisition creatives. The launch of High Seas Hero further reflected the company’s interest in mini-game-inspired titles.

Kingshot’s campaign shows how a mobile strategy game can combine large-scale creative production with AI-generated storytelling, live-action hooks, localized messaging, and familiar secondary gameplay formats. Rather than depending on one advertising formula, the campaign used creative variety itself as a growth strategy.