Honkai: Star Rail, the latest mobile and PC game by miHoYo, has become a breakout hit in 2023. It has achieved about 20 million downloads in just two days, breaking records and helping miHoYo become China’s second highest-grossing mobile game publisher, surpassing NetEase.
The success of Honkai: Star Rail, however, has negatively affected the revenue of miHoYo’s earlier hit game, Genshin Impact. Game World Observer reported that Genshin Impact’s monthly revenue in May was its lowest yet, adding that the game generated $53.8 million in revenue, down by 38.6% from $87.7 million in April. Meanwhile, Honkai: Star Rail earned $132 million in revenue during May alone, which is almost three times higher than Genshin Impact’s revenue. Notably, Genshin Impact’s revenue in June 2021, which was $65.6 million, was 18% higher than its May 2023 earning.
Top Performer
In October 2020, Genshin Impact’s best-performing month, the game generated $172.1 million in revenue. It is worth emphasizing that Honkai: Star Rail has been released only on mobile and PC so far, while Genshin Impact debuted on gaming consoles before being made available on other platforms, underlining the success of Honkai: Star Rail in a short time and the robustness of phones as a gaming platform.
Though Genshin Impact’s performance has been slow, it remains one of the most popular and lucrative mobile games globally.
The immense revenue earned by Honkai: Star Rail, in just a few months after its launch, is due to its unique storyline, art style, and immersive gameplay. The game is the main hit that propelled miHoYo’s revenue to reaching the point where it’s the world’s second most profitable mobile game maker.
One miHoYo employee said, “It’s clear the intention is to make it at least as big as Genshin Impact and to make it the main title of the company.” Time will tell whether Honkai: Star Rail continues to surpass the success of Genshin Impact and becomes miHoYo’s flagship title. Our previous list of top 50 mobile game makers of 2022 included miHoYo.