Many people first download Starward for the mecha girls.
Many quit after realizing they’re up against veterans who have spent years playing Gundam EXVS.
Starward is a 3D mecha-girl fighting game, released in April 2024, available on PC, iOS, Android, and PS5. But it has one fundamental difference from most anime-style gacha games—it’s not a collection game, it’s a fighting game.
How Does It Play?
1v1 or 2v2 battles, three minutes per round. You control your character in 3D space—shooting, melee, dashing, dodging—and the goal is simply to defeat the opponent.
Sounds simple? It’s not.
In many action mobile games, you just fire off your skills. Starward is different. You need to think about when to push, when to pull back, when to bait an opponent’s move, and when to protect your teammate. More often than not, positioning matters more than raw damage.
Players who’ve played Gundam EXVS can jump right in. Those who haven’t—expect to get destroyed for a while.
Why Is It Called “GVG Like”?
“GVG” is the shorthand used by fans of the Gundam VS series. These games aren’t about pressing skills on cooldown. They’re about movement, positioning, spacing, and resource management.
Starward carries that DNA. Its combat system includes shooting, melee, dash-canceling, and awakening mechanics, closely mirroring Gundam EXVS’s core framework. For veterans, there’s almost no learning curve.
For newcomers, the first few dozen hours will be confusing. You won’t even understand how you died—one dash-cancel, one sidestep, and all your skills whiff. Character power won’t save you; an experienced player can beat a fully maxed-out rookie with a starter unit.
Why Did Veteran Gundam Players Take Notice?
For Gundam EXVS fans, Starward feels instantly familiar. The combat flow, pacing, and team-play fundamentals are all close to what they know.
What’s more, Gundam EXVS has seen few new releases in recent years, and the GVG community has been waiting for something that could carry that torch. Starward filled that gap.
What Makes It Fun?
Starward’s biggest appeal: no two matches are the same.
It’s not like traditional mobile games where you follow a rotation. Victory depends on execution, positioning, resource management, and teamwork. The gap between a skilled player and a novice is night and day.
The real joy comes from mind games. Often, you win not because you dealt more damage, but because you predicted what your opponent was about to do.
The game also has a COST system: a 3-cost unit is stronger, but if it dies twice, your team may collapse. A 1.5-cost unit deals less damage but can respawn more often. In high-level play, low-cost units often become the decisive factor.
In short: Skill matters far more than spending.
The Most Authentic Scene: Veteran Gundam Players Farming Anime Newcomers
When the game first launched, the developers held an event giving away a ton of gacha currency, attracting a huge wave of gacha players.
Newcomers thought they were downloading a typical waifu collector. Then they discovered—their opponents were all Gundam EXVS veterans.
Getting double-teamed in 2v2, having their ultimate dodged effortlessly, standing around helplessly—that was the real experience for most beginners.
A phrase quickly spread among players: “This isn’t an anime game—this is Gundam players farming anime newcomers.”
How Starward Became a Surprise Hit in Japan
When Starward launched on Steam, the developers hadn’t even started overseas marketing. But the Japanese fighting game community discovered it on their own. They created a fan wiki, made translation patches, and the game even climbed into the Steam top sellers chart in Japan, where it developed its own community nickname among players.
Why Is It Huge in Japan but Not in China?
The answer isn’t complicated.
GVG is a very niche genre. For fans of Gundam EXVS, Starward is one of the few new titles in years to offer that kind of experience. But for most Chinese gacha players, the skill floor is far higher than typical ARPGs or collection games.
Simply put: this game filters players, not the other way around.
Those who stay are the ones who can endure the initial learning curve.
How Impressive Are Its Overseas Sales?
What’s striking is that this success is almost entirely driven by overseas revenue.
According to public financial reports, over 80% of Starward’s revenue comes from overseas markets, with Japan consistently contributing more than 60% of monthly revenue. In other words, this game, which barely made a splash in its home market, earned the bulk of its money abroad.
Who Is Starward For?
- Veteran Gundam EXVS players: Yes. Core GVG mechanics are intact, and you can play on PC or mobile without visiting an arcade.
- Fighting game fans, but new to GVG: Worth a try, but be prepared to lose for your first few dozen hours. Push through the initial grind, and the depth will reward you.
- Anime fans drawn by the character designs: Proceed with caution. The characters look great, but the combat’s intensity might make you question your download.
- Casual players who prefer auto-play, collecting, or story: Skip it. There’s no narrative, no deep farming—it’s pure PvP.
If you enjoy mastering mechanics and competitive mind games, Starward might be one of the most worthwhile Chinese fighting games in recent years.
But if you’re just looking to collect characters, follow a story, and relax, it probably won’t be your cup of tea.
Copyright Notice:
All game screenshots, character designs, and related materials referenced in this article are the property of Shengtian Network and their respective rights holders.
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