Sensor Tower reports that Genshin Impact has made more than $1 billion in revenue from player spending. Even more impressive: that figure is from the mobile version of the game alone.
The anime-style action RPG has been a runaway success for Chinese developer miHoYo, who launched the game in September of 2020. After much skepticism among the gaming community and unfavorable comparisons to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Genshin Impact released to largely positive reviews, quickly amassing a large following on both YouTube and Twitch.
Genshin Impact previously made headlines in February when it generated $874 million within five months of release. The Sensor Tower report also notes that average player spend on the game has been sitting at around $160 million every month since last December.
Genshin Impact is monetized via in-app purchases of its in-game currency, characters, and costume options.
It’s the introduction of new characters that has proven particularly lucrative for miHoYo. According to Sensor Tower, the game averages about $5 million per day in revenue. That number rises to $12 million on days when a new character is released.
Streamers are also cashing in on Genshin Impact’s success. Interestingly, streamers experience a similar uptick in donations and tips when a new character comes out. According to Daniel Ahmad, a Senior Analyst at Niko Partners, “Viewers of Genshin Impact live streamers in China would tip/donate 2.5x more than average to streamers on the day that a new character was added.”
By achieving this feat in six months, Genshin Impact has officially become the fastest game to hit $1 billion in revenue on mobile platforms. The previous record was held by Niantic’s Pokémon GO, which took nine months to reach the same milestone.
