A new video game from MiHoYo, its first since global sensation Genshin Impact, has proved a hit with players as the Shanghai-based studio continues its stellar form.
Honkai: Star Rail, a role-playing anime game based on miHoYo’s Honkai series, has now surpassed Genshin Impact as the biggest global launch of any Chinese video game, according to Sensor Tower data. The mobile and PC versions of the game launched on April 26.
Comparing the first-week download and revenue data of the two games in the global mobile gaming market, Honkai: Star Rail had a download number 1.6 times that of Genshin Impact, and a revenue figure 1.3 times that of Genshin Impact for the same period, according to a recent report published by Sensor Tower. The app analytics firm did not provide an exact revenue figure.
Driven by the new game launch, miHoYo’s revenue from the mobile side increased by 45 per cent in April from March, overtaking NetEase to become the second-most-grossing mobile games publisher in China, behind Tencent Holdings, according to the Sensor Tower. The report also dubbed the new title as “the most heavyweight new game this year” with its “high-quality content and vigorous marketing campaigns”.
According to real-time data from market research firm AppMagic, the title has so far racked up over US$50 million of revenue on smartphones alone. However, since the game was launched in both mobile and PC formats, total revenue is expected to be even higher than this.
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Privately-owned MiHoYo, which has never disclosed its financial figures, has not released revenue numbers for the new game, although it has said the title amassed 20 million downloads by the second day of launch.
“It is the first game launched by miHoYo after Genshin Impact, and the game has taken miHoYo four years [to develop], so everyone is watching it,” said Zhang Shule, an analyst at CBJ Think Tank.
Genshin Impact, launched by miHoYo in September 2020, bagged US$4 billion in global revenue by the end of 2022 to make it one of the most successful mobile titles of all time, marking a new era for China-developed games.
Many Chinese players are already spending long hours and lots of money on the new game.
“It is my first time getting to play such world-exploring games,” said a Weibo user with the handle “Lychee”, who lives in central Hubei province. “Each day I play the game, four or five hours pass before I know it.”
“I play the game for roughly two hours a day and have spent a few hundred yuan to draw out the characters I like,” said Li Ye, a 23-year-old player in Shanghai, referring to the gacha mechanic in the game.
She added that the game has largely replaced the time she used to play on Genshin Impact. “I’ve stopped playing Genshin Impact as I think the art style of the two games is very similar, so there’s no point in spending time and money on both games.”
MiHoYo has deployed a sizeable advertising campaign to support the launch, including social media adverts as well as offline attractions.
In Xujiahui, a central district in Shanghai, statues and booths have been set up to host marketing campaigns for the game, with players queuing up over the weekend to collect goods related to game characters. Outdoor billboards have also been put up in Tokyo and New York.
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The new game comes as China’s video games market – the world’s largest – continues to recover after a long regulatory crackdown by Beijing eased this year. The country’s major video game publishers, including Tencent and NetEase, are also set to launch at least a dozen new mobile and PC titles in the coming months.
Honkai: Star Rail secured its licence from China’s online game regulator in January, as it gave out a total of 88 licences to domestically-developed games – higher than any monthly domestic approval tally seen in 2022.
Analysts are debating whether Honkai: Star Rail can match Genshin Impact’s long-term success. The latter remains one of the world’s top-grossing games more than two years after launch.
CBJ’s Zhang says although Honkai: Star Rail has benefited from Genshin Impact’s previous appeal, it remains to be seen whether it has staying power in an increasingly competitive market.
“There have been some breakout anime games from Chinese publishers this year, so it is hard to duplicate the success of Genshin Impact without innovative gameplay,” said Zhang, adding that Honkai: Star Rail’s game play has been differentiated to target long-term survival.
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