Nintendo Co. might have scored a hit with the explosive debut of "Pokemon Go" this year. On its home turf, however, Sony Corp. has quietly dispatched its rival with a popular mobile game called "Fate/Grand Order."

The game, based on an anime TV series called "Fate," allows players to travel back in time and team up with historical figures like Julius Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci and Joan of Arc to rescue humanity from looming disaster. While the basic version is free to play, people can pay for tokens that make it easier to add characters and speed up gameplay.

"Fate/Grand Order" has been at or near the top of Japan's app revenue rankings all year and has been downloaded more than 7 million times since its July 2015 debut. It has made more money than "Pokemon Go" among Android users on 104 out of 133 days this year, and 51 days on iOS devices, in the same period, according to researcher App Annie.