hololive Dreams hit #2 on Japan's grossing chart while the US free chart left it in the high teens

The first hololive mobile game topped iOS free-game charts across Asia and debuted at #2 on Japan's grossing chart on launch day, yet the US free chart still buries it behind the Istanbul hypercasual-puzzle wall, as TikTok Pro Events seized #1 overnight for the first time before ChatGPT reclaimed the top by morning, Grok 4.5 reached consumer apps but the US chart left Grok at #47, Twitch and Meta AI climbed back into the lower half, and Apple's Epic stay ruling stayed pending.

hololive Dreams debuted at #2 on Japan's grossing chart while the US free chart left it in the high teens

gamebiz reports that by the morning of July 24, hololive Dreams had debuted at #2 on Japan's App Store grossing (game) chart, having already topped the free-game chart in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong on pre-download day July 22 (gamelook). Pre-registrations climbed past 1.6 million.

• The US tells the opposite story. The US free chart still parks hololive Dreams in the high teens (gamelook: US top 20), behind the Istanbul hypercasual-puzzle wall (Block Out, Meowdoku, Smash Fest), and US grossing sits at #66. The free chart rewards paid-UA puzzle velocity; the grossing chart shows where the paying VTuber fanbase actually lives, and it lives in Asia.
• The backstory: COVER and its CyberAgent subsidiary QualiArts built a rhythm-plus-RPG-plus-gacha with 150-plus songs and 50-plus hololive talents, launching iOS, Android, and Steam simultaneously with cross-progression (official launch). Steam topped 11,000 concurrent players (gamelook). The fanbase is concentrated in Japan and Asia, which is exactly where the grossing chart lit up.

TikTok Pro Events seized #1 overnight, its first, before ChatGPT reclaimed the top by morning

An overnight chart snapshot (anerg, 06:13 UTC July 24) caught TikTok Pro - Events at #1, up one spot, with ChatGPT down to #2. It is the events companion app's first #1, and the first time an app other than ChatGPT or Netflix Game Controller has held the top since FOX One's post-final spike on July 20.

• By morning ChatGPT had moved back to #1 (Apple's live chart), so the post-World-Cup #1 is now a two-app contest that flips overnight. A Polymarket contract on "the #1 free US app on July 24" leans ChatGPT at 76%, resolving at noon ET.
• The climb is a four-day run from #8 on July 20 (its post-final low, when the World Cup apps jumped over it) to #3 (July 21) to #2 (July 22 to 23) to an overnight #1. TikTok Pro Events survived the World Cup's end because it is a general cultural-events companion (FIFA Fan Hub, Stars rewards, Shop coupons), not a single-event broadcaster app like FOX One or Peacock, which collapsed out of the top 25 and never came back (TechCrunch).

Grok 4.5 reached the consumer apps, but the US chart left Grok at #47

xAI rolled Grok 4.5, its smartest model, into the Grok iOS, Android, web, and X apps on July 22, making it the default model across xAI's whole consumer surface (Androidheadlines). The Grok app updated to flag "Grok 4.5 is here" on July 21 (FoxData).

• The US chart has not rewarded it. Grok sat at #47 on the July 24 overnight snapshot, down 8 spots (anerg), while the three charted AI assistants held: ChatGPT #1 to 2, Claude #7, Gemini #9. A fourth AI assistant got a flagship-model boost and the free chart shrugged.
• The mechanic: Apple's post-iOS-27 ranking now weights retention and engagement over raw download velocity (AppDrift), so a model upgrade alone does not move the needle the way a launch spike or a TV moment does. Grok's built-in distribution (real-time X trends, the Imagine video tool) has not yet converted into free-chart velocity, and a fifth assistant, Meta AI, is actually closer to the charted cohort after climbing 17 spots to #31.

The lower half re-equilibrated: Twitch back, Meta AI +17, Ticketmaster +11

On the July 24 overnight snapshot (anerg), Twitch re-entered at #50 (new) after three days out, and Meta AI climbed 17 spots to #31, putting a fifth AI assistant on the board behind Grok. Ticketmaster jumped 11 to #29 as the summer concert tour cycle rolls on.

• The resale-fashion cohort held its top-10 floor a fourth straight day: Depop #3 and Vinted #6, with Whatnot at #12. Back-to-school demand (Circana's midsummer-to-Labor-Day window) continues to fill the slots the World Cup and short-drama apps vacated.
• The short-drama cohort kept deflating: StoryReel slid to #27 and VibeShort to #45, while Freecash dropped 5 to #10. The lower half is churning as perennial social and utility apps (Instagram, Facebook, SHEIN, Life360) drift back in.

Tracking

• Apple v. Epic: No ruling on Apple's stay motion. The last filing was Apple's July 18 notice citing Judge Wise's parallel Coral Springs pause (9to5Mac); Judge Gonzalez Rogers is still reviewing. If she denies the stay, Apple must file its external-link commission proposal within 24 hours. Status quo: 0% commission on external-link purchases.
• World Cup cohort: Still zero WC apps in the top 25 (Kalshi, FOX One, Peacock all out), a third day since the collapse. The tournament ended July 19 and nothing remains to re-inflate them.
• ColdTrace: The detective game held in the low teens after its #12 debut; the simulated-phone format's organic climb has plateaued pending a new case update.
• Free-games wall: Block Out (Grand Games) held #1 free game on its paid-UA engine (about $300K a day) over Meowdoku's organic lead. Fortnite, which climbed to #14 free game earlier this week, is an Epic title rising on Apple's chart while Apple and Epic fight in court over the external-link commission that lets Fortnite route payments outside Apple's in-app purchase system.