Game news The most expensive video game in history is not Star Citizen: it has already cost more than $900 million and counting!
Published on 14/11/2024 at 1:00 p.m.
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This game has broken all records in financial terms, whether on the production side or for its profits. And the most surprising thing is that it is free-to-play! It notably outperformed AAA such as Star Citizen or the biggest games from Rockstar Games (Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA V). Four years after its release, this title is still profitable.
Attention, impact imminent !
September 28, 2020 is the most important day for the Chinese studio MiHoyo since it is on this date that Genshin Impact arrives. Upon release, the game is available on PC, mobile and PS4. Available since 2021 on PS5, it has also been available on Xbox since this summer. This open-world RPG represents the title with the highest production and marketing amount of all time. We are still talking about a total of $900 million, including $100 million for initial development and another $200 million per year for maintenance. And it's far from being an end-of-life game.
We can already see that these amounts exceed those of triple A productions such as Cyberpunk 2077 (around $400 million), Star Citizen (over $600 million) or even GTA 5 (around $265 million). In terms of revenue generated, in 2022, Genshin Impact had collected no less than three billion dollars (source : Guangming Daily) . Profits greater than those of EA, Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft in the same year. This great profitability for the benefit of MiHoYo is notably due to the microtransactions offered to players. The game is, in fact, designed like a gatcha: users must spend money to hope to obtain the character they want.
A whole ecosystem
Genshin Impact follows a previous game from MiHoYo, Honkai Impact 3rd, which outlines what Genshin Impact will become. The studio has been expanding and optimizing its game for four years now. In the meantime, the studio has released Honkai: Star Rail as well as Zenless Zone Zero, which are also free-to-play RPGs. Genshin Impact is not just a game, it's an entire fruitful ecosystem that enriches the universe. From Pop figurines to artbooks, mangas and even an animation project announced in 2022, no obstacle seems to stop MiHoYo.
The studio is still very involved in its game since this November 20th version 5.2 arrives with a new Archon quest as well as two banner characters: Chasca and Oronon. A version 5.3 is scheduled for January 1, 2025.
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