Genshin Impact creator miHoYo’s success underscores growing clout of Chinese video game developers in global market
- Genshin Impact’s revenue hit its highest level in 11 months in February, driven by a series of campaigns and new version releases
- Chinese video game developers accounted for 40 of the world’s top 100 mobile games publishers by revenue last month, says Sensor Tower
Chinese video game developers including Shanghai-based miHoYo, the studio behind Genshin Impact, accounted for 40 of the world’s top 100 mobile games publishers by revenue last month, bringing in a total of US$1.85 billion in revenue, according to app analytics firm Sensor Tower.
The statistic reflects the progress made by Chinese developers over the past few years, with tough domestic regulation – including strict licensing and content controls – forcing many of the leading players to target overseas markets.
miHoYo has had a spectacular rise with the global success of Genshin Impact, which is currently ranked second on the global top mobile video game publisher list, according to Sensor Tower data.
Genshin Impact’s revenue hit its highest level in 11 months in February, driven by a series of campaigns and new version releases, rising 18.5 per cent from January. Among Chinese developers miHoYo came in third in terms of revenue, behind Tencent Holdings and NetEase.
Chinese developers accounted for over a third of revenue earned by video game makers on Apple’s App Store and Google Play in February, according to Sensor Tower.
The Chinese video games market was rocked recently after US game publisher Blizzard Entertainment, a subsidiary of video game holding company Activision Blizzard, ended a 14-year partnership with NetEase after disagreements over terms. This has cut off Chinese players’ access to popular titles such as World of Warcraft.
Shenzhen-based social media and gaming giant Tencent still leads among the Chinese video game developers, thanks to titles such as Honor or Kings and the Chinese version of viral hit PUBG.
Chinese authorities have also signalled a more positive tone on the industry this year. In February, 87 domestic video game licences were approved with Tencent and NetEase among the recipients.
In November, the People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece, published an opinion article that described video games as an industry of “great significance to the country’s industrial layout and technological innovation” after a previous editorial described video games as “spiritual opium”.
