Genshin Impact, the free-to-play action RPG developed by Chinese studio miHoYo, released earlier this week on PC, PlayStation 4, iOS and Android, and it seems like it's quite the hit already.
A few hours after its debut, Genshin Impact peaked at over 110K concurrent viewers on Twitch, making it the most popular title on the streaming platform for that day. That's just the tip of the iceberg, though.
According to a report published by the South China Morning Post, the game already grossed over $1.84 million on China's version of the App Store, making it the second top-grossing app even ahead of China's TikTok as tracked by Qimai Data.
Its success wasn't entirely surprising, anyway, as Genshin Impact had garnered a lot of attention pre-release. Over 5.3 million players pre-registered for download outside of China, while that number goes up to 16 million in the studio's homeland.
The South China Morning Post also got statements from analysts Serkan Toto, CEO of consultancy firm Kantan Games Inc., and Sho Sato, CEO of consultancy firm LUDiMUS Inc., about the early success enjoyed by miHoYo's new title.
Serkan Toto: I don’t think any Chinese-made game has ever had that many pre-registrations outside its home market. So just by the scale of people interested early on, Genshin Impact is a big title already.
Genshin Impact is surely ambitious, and I believe if it takes off in the first several days and weeks, the developer might have a super hit on their hands in the long run.
Sho Sato: They have taken advantage of promotion and advertising in Japan. Besides, the continuous Covid-19 outbreak has also had a positive impact because gamers globally have been spending more time playing massive multiplayer online role-playing games like Genshin Impact.
We've covered Genshin Impact extensively ahead of the launch, between previews, interviews, giveaways and more. Check back soon for our full review of the game.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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