Coming at a time when many game studios are attempting to broaden market presence to varying degrees of success, fans will wonder how this change will impact the studio and the games currently in development. Of course, it is the matter of what miHoYo is attempting to expand into that will give fans this clarity of how they can expect their gameplay experiences to be affected, if at all.
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The Story of miHoYo
MiHoYo is a company still in comparative infancy when compared to its competitors, and this desire to grow further beyond its constrictions is no surprise when taking into account its short but meteoric history. The company was only founded in February 2012 by three students who were classmates at China’s Shanghai Jiao Tong University, with the company headquarters residing in Shanghai to this day. With the company now employing over 4000 people across 6 locations, it has seen a rapid level of expansion over its ten years of existence. The main contributing factor to this rapid success is undoubtedly the massive popularity of miHoYo’s flagship title Genshin Impact. With Genshin Impact having the most profitable first year of any game on record, the success that Genshin Impact has brought to its creators speaks for itself.
The Success of Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact, despite being the sixth game developed by miHoYo, is undoubtedly the one that put miHoYo on the global stage. Being an action RPG, the free-to-play aspect of Genshin Impact has seen it become extremely popular since its recent initial release in 2020. Befitting of the game’s popularity, Genshin Impact is widely considered as one of the best role-playing games in recent times.
Not only has the lore-rich and addictive gameplay seen Genshin Impact become popular on PC and consoles, but it is also an extremely popular mobile game. With the game winning the Best Mobile Game award at The Gaming Awards for 2021, it has without a doubt been the game has put miHoYo in the position of prospective expansion that it finds itself.
The Reasons Behind the Name Change
The change of branding from miHoYo to HoYoverse is indicative of the ambition and success that the success is enjoying. As previously mentioned, the main reasoning for this name change is for miHoYo to move beyond the confinements of game development and delve into a much wider portfolio of different technologies and business fronts.
A perfect statement of this intent is already present, with miHoYo surprisingly announcing that it is investing in nuclear fusion energy, pledging $65 million to a Chinese firm in the name of cleaner and more sustainable energy. This serves as a good glimpse as to what to expect of HoYoverse as a wider conglomerate, being much more focused on ground-breaking technologies outside of gaming as well as within the gaming sphere, such as virtual reality.
Although it is safe to assume that the gaming side of miHoYo will remain a core focus of the company due to how lucrative and successful it has proven to be, it is clear that the near future holds a serious level of change and expansion.
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