Microsoft is looking for its own Genshin Impact-like game to appeal more to the Chinese market, according to a new report.
Reuters notes that the company is accelerating plans to find a similar title for the action role-playing game, which has brought in more than $4 billion in revenue for Shanghai studio miHoYo in two years.
Genshin Impact, an anime-style open-world game, monetizes through gacha mechanics, with players paying for the chance to earn special characters that they can then use in the game.
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Daniel Ahmad, senior analyst at researcher Niko Partners told Reuters that “Chinese game developers are trying to standardize their development tools, create advanced production processes and invest in really large-scale teams.”
“Ultimately, that gives them the competitive edge to reach a wide audience, both in geography and platforms.”
Reuters claims that sources indicate to them that Microsoft is scouring the Chinese markets for new developers it could bring. The company would also “pursue independent studios with big-money offers” as well.
Although Sony does not own the Genshin Impact IP, it partnered with developer miHoYo early in the game’s development and helped bring it to market. The game is on PC and mobile devices, although the console version of the game is exclusive to PlayStation.
Obviously the game makes most of its money on mobile platforms, but the game regularly tops the most played free-to-play games on PlayStation.
According to Reuters sources, Microsoft “regrets” missing Genshin and had spoken briefly with miHoYo when Genshin was being developed, but the talks fell through.
“Picking up Genshin Impact has made Sony a lot of money,” said a Reuters source, who declined to be identified because the information was not public.