Microsoft is gearing up for its own Genshin Impact-like game to compete with Sony
The US based company is now looking for Chinese developers to develop their own role-playing game
Microsoft has been investing a good amount of money in small developers for years to build their games after seeing the success of Genshin Impact. The anime-role-playing game has gained popularity and is one of the most played games worldwide. It looks like Microsoft now wants a piece of the cake and is currently looking for the perfect team to build its title.
Genshin Impact was released in 2022 by miHoYo (now HoYoverse) with the help of Sony Entertainment and has been one of the most popular game titles worldwide. It’s an anime-based open-world action roleplaying game where the players can play as different characters on their journey to reveal the mystery of Teyvat. The game is available on PC, iOS, and Android, while the console version is exclusive to PlayStation only.
Microsoft is scouting for new Chinese developers to enter the Chinese game development industry
According to Reuters‘ sources, Microsoft is now scouting more Chinese games and “is now wooing even independent studios with big-money offers.” Microsoft is now focusing on the Chinese game development market after the increasing popularity of Chinese titles that reflects the advancement of the country’s game development industry, which the experts believe can now compete with western developers head-to-head.
With the advancement of game development in China, and Microsoft’s plan to strengthen the Xbox subscription service with more popular game titles from the industry, Chinese companies have already started to get offers from Microsoft to sign a licensing deal.
The prime example is Microsoft paying $2.5 million for “ARK: Survival Evolved” and $2.3 million for the sequel ARK 2 to Wildcard Studio, owned by China’s Snail Games, and signing a deal to include both games in the Xbox Game Pass. Chief Executive of Shanghai-based company Recreate Games Luo Zixiong revealed, “Xbox contacted many projects in China and these projects primarily focus on developing console and PC games.”
However, it looks like Microsoft is now regretting its decision on a mission out of Genshin Impact after sources revealed that the company was talking with miHoYo during the game’s development but couldn’t complete a deal.
Genshin Impact later became a global hit after release, and Sony earned huge revenue after partnering up with miHoYo during the game’s early development. Besides this, the Chinese market has been profitable for Sony as the Japanese company has helped different Chinese developers develop 17 other titles.
China’s game development industry has matured a lot in the past years, and the studios are starting to produce better and high-quality titles like Genshin Impact, which has quite rightly gained the attention of giants like Microsoft. It won’t be a surprise if more and more games developed by Chinese developers are added to the Xbox game pass.
What are your thoughts on Microsoft’s interest in their own role-playing game like Genshin Impact? Let us know in the comments below.
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