Chinese developers, including Shanghai-based studio miHoYo, creators of Genshin Impact, ranked 40th in the world’s top 100 mobile game publishers by revenue. According to Sensor Tower, their combined sales were $1.85 billion.
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The stats reflect the strides Chinese developers have made in recent years despite heavy regulation in the domestic market, as well as tight license and content controls. The worldwide success of Genshin Impact has propelled miHoYo to second place in the global ranking of mobile game publishers.
In February, Genshin Impact revenue hit an 11-month high, up 18.5% month-on-month. Among Chinese developers, miHoYo ranks third in terms of revenue generated, behind only Tencent and NetEase. The Sensor Tower report states that Chinese developers accounted for more than a third of game sales revenue on Apple (App Store) and Google (Play Store) in February.
Earlier this year, the Chinese video games market was rocked by the news that NetEase, the country’s distributor of Blizzard games, rejected the American company’s offer to relicense its games in China. The decision banned Chinese gamers from accessing Blizzard games, including World of Warcraft. Tencent continues to lead the Chinese video game market thanks to popular projects like Honor of Kings and the local version of PUBG.
After a sustained decline in the global video game market over the past three years, Sensor Tower expects revenue growth to pick up again this year, with revenue from the App Store and Play Market reaching $81 billion in Japan, South Korea and the United States. This bodes well for Chinese developers.
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