The tenor of the conversation around mobile and gacha games has changed over the years. Although they were initially met with ridicule due to the general belief that they were cheap and inferior copycat games, not to mention predatory games since their various mechanics and functions are often closely linked to microtransactions, more people than ever are now playing mobile games, and they are a huge source of capital for the industry. Currently, mobile and gacha games are some of the most played games, and there is probably no better example of this than Genshin Impact, a gacha RPG developed by Chinese developer Mihoyo. Unsurprisingly, the game’s status as a global phenomenon is paying off for its developer, valued at $23 billion in a new report, a figure that would also make it the most valuable private gaming-focused company in the world.
This is the company’s latest review in its sixth year Global Unicorn Index from the Hurun Research Institute, which evaluates private companies and startups founded after 2000 and starting at $1 billion in volume. As reported by Game World ObserverBetween the institute’s last ranking and this year’s, Mihoyo shot up 91 places. Not only is it the largest private gaming company in the ranking, but it is also the 12th highest-grossing company on the entire list.
The next largest private gaming company is Niantic, the developer best known for Pokémon Gowhich is several Positions below Mihoyo at number 67. To give you an idea of how big the difference between them is, Niantic was valued at $9 billion.
When Genshin Impact Some viewers immediately wrote it off when it first appeared, with the developer, Mihoyo, following in its footsteps The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but the title attracted an audience that has only grown orders of magnitude since then. Mihoyo, which also published the turn-based gacha RPG Honkai: Star Rail a few years ago, has since exploded, not only in popularity but also in sheer wealth thanks to Cash cows like these titles.
If things continue like this, Mihoyo will move up a place or two by this time next year. While the company already has two bona fide hits under its belt – and neither shows any signs of giving up as they’re constantly updating with new content – it hasn’t yet hit the brakes on other game development. His latest title, Zenless Zone Zerois another stylish action RPG that existed in and out of beta for some time now and it’s on track to release on PC and PS5 in the near future.
