- Genshin Impact celebrates its fourth anniversary on September 28th
- The title has generated $1.6 billion per year on average on the App Store and Google Play since its global release
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Gacha RPG goliath Genshin Impact celebrates its fourth anniversary on September 28th with its major Version 5.0 update already in full swing, introducing players to the land of Natlan.
This brand-new region has its own characters, story campaign and lore for players to explore, providing the main setting for the year ahead.
The update comes as HoYoverse‘s flagship hits $6.3 billion in gross mobile revenue on mobile from the App Store and Google Play, bringing average yearly earnings on the platforms to $1.6 billion by AppMagic estimates.
Genshin Impact’s potential for long-term success was clear from the get-go, surpassing $100 million in its first two weeks and proceeding to $2 billion by its first anniversary.
The title won Best Game at the Google Play Awards 2020 and has solidified HoYoverse’s place among our own annual Top 50 Mobile Game Makers list – grabbing the number one spot in 2023.
And as the fastest game ever to reach $5 billion, Genshin’s financial and cultural impact cannot be overstated.
So, with the fourth anniversary so close on the horizon, how exactly has HoYoverse sustained its flagship over the years? In such a fast-evolving market, how has Genshin Impact remained relevant? And are players finally moving on, setting their sights on Honkai: Star Rail and the shiny new Zenless Zone Zero?
Millions upon millions
With $6.3 billion in lifetime mobile revenue, AppMagic data indicates Genshin Impact’s annual earnings slowly declined year-on-year up to its third anniversary, but have since fallen more rapidly. The game made $1.9 billion on mobile in its first year, $1.8 billion in its second and $1.6 billion during year three.
Since September 28th, 2023, the RPG has generated a further $931.4 million, making this its first year to dip below $1 billion.
While Genshin’s decline was already ongoing, the more dramatic fall is reflective of a diminishing RPG market, as well as evident cannibalisation between HoYoverse titles.
Audience crossover was quickly apparent with Honkai: Star Rail’s record-breaking release on April 26th, 2023, which brought about an immediate 38.6% month-on-month revenue decline for Genshin.
Fast forward to 2024 and Genshin Impact started the year back in front, earning approximately 1.5 times Honkai: Star Rail’s revenue in January. In February, Star Rail took the lead again, however, and more than doubled Genshin’s revenue in March.
Player spending has only fallen further since Zenless Zone Zero’s release on July 4th, with Genshin generating just $116 million in almost three months since. Meanwhile, the new urban RPG achieved $50 million in under two weeks – certainly no mean feat, but a weaker launch than its predecessors – and has proceeded to almost $150 million to date.
Considering Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail reached that milestone in a matter of weeks, combined with Genshin’s slowdown since Zenless Zone Zero’s launch, the data does suggest a saturation point for HoYoverse RPGs.
This year’s finest
Genshin Impact’s most successful update in the past year was Version 4.2 on November 8th, 2023, which racked up $15 million on update day, $14.2 million the day after and a further $14.7 million during day three.
This update introduced new characters Furina and Charlotte, weapons like the five-star sword Splendor of Tranquil Waters, two additional areas to explore and a number of new quests to engage players.
More recently, Version 4.6 arrived on April 24th, 2024 and brought with it Genshin’s second most lucrative update of year four, spiking revenue to $13.4 million on update day at a huge 227% increase over the day prior.
At that time one new character, Arlecchino, was introduced, as were two more areas, two story quests and three new monsters.
Both these events surpassed the revenue generated during the third anniversary, often a high point for gacha earnings, although last year’s celebration was something of a quiet affair. And adding further fuel to the cannibalisation fire, Genshin Impact’s biggest spikes in year four both occurred prior to Zenless Zone Zero’s release.
So, what works?
Genshin Impact’s monetisation model has two core facets: battle passes and gacha mechanics.
Battle passes have been present since launch, each lasting throughout the duration of a version update and offering bonus rewards while playing. Version 5.0 has seen the release of the 35th battle pass, unlocking bonus EXP, extra weapons and various items.
As for the gacha system, Genshin Impact follows the genre’s classic pattern of regularly introducing new characters, leading to the short-and-sweet revenue booms as observed above. Players aim to obtain these shiny new individuals in exchange for premium currency, in this case Primogems, figuratively rolling the dice with every spend.
This means players might just get their desired character straight away, or may end up ploughing through their hard-earned Primogems as they try and try to get the right pull.
It’s a well-established formula present across many a gacha game, leading players to spend real money for more attempts at meta-defining, often limited-time characters.
And those characters, typically released alongside new areas to explore and quests to complete, form the basis of Genshin Impact’s ongoing relevance and modernity, bringing frequent new content to the game, new strategies, and even more reasons to play.
Genshin Impact also has something of a stamina system in Original Resin, designed not to gate players from engaging with the gameplay but specifically to keep them from claiming rewards without enough supply. Primogems can also be spent on Original Resin.
And last but not least, Genesis Crystals serve as Genshin Impact’s paid-only currency, having no alternative method to obtain them other than forking over cash. The currency can be converted into Primogems or used to unlock alternative outfits for characters.
These mechanics have long formed the basis of Genshin Impact’s monetisation model and were clearly a successful approach through the game’s first three years, but after this year’s rapid decline in player spending – at least on mobile – perhaps now is finally a time to reassess and evolve beyond the current formula…
To the anniversary and beyond
In the four years since Genshin Impact first landed on mobile, PC and PS4, this open-world giant has established its developer as one of the big players in the mobile space and a top Chinese publisher. It’s brought in billion of dollars and spawned unprecedented hype for new HoYoverse games, while the developer continues to launch regular updates to keep its players engaged.
Even as its revenue falls, HoYoverse has its second titan in Honkai: Star Rail off the back of Genshin’s success, Zenless Zone Zero is making waves of its own, and another new project, Astaweave Haven, is already in the works.
If one thing is clear, it’s the impact Genshin has had on its developer, sure to make even more money and reach as-yet untapped audiences as HoYoverse’s library continues to grow in video games and beyond.
