On March 10, new data from Sensor Tower’s Store Intelligence platform showed that the overseas income of miHoYo’s “Genshin Impact” once again saw growth due to the hosting of the Hu Tao and Nyanyan character event in early February, and the update of the 3.5th version in late February. The game retook the top spot on the overseas mobile game revenue chart and returned to the top of the revenue growth chart.
Meanwhile, with the launch of new characters, storylines, and events, miHoYo’s “Birzeit 3” saw a 62% increase in overseas revenue month-over-month, climbing back to the 14th spot on the revenue chart and entering the growth chart at the 3rd position.
It is known that as high-demand characters in “Genshin Impact,” Hu Tao was revived for a pool re-release on November 3, 2021, leading to a server crash. This re-release occurred 451 days after the last revival. Another character, Nyanyan, was dubbed the “Nyanyan Lady” due to its strength.
[Image Source: Genshin Impact Preview Live Streaming Screenshot]
Last month, the joint promotion between Genshin Impact and Pizza Hut caused the Pizza Hut app to crash, which was reflected in a trending topic on Weibo. This indirectly demonstrated the game’s financial capabilities. Earlier this year, on January 4, a trending topic “Genshin Impact’s Total Revenue Exceeds $400 Million” was listed on Weibo.
Since its launch in September 2020, the mobile version of Genshin Impact has generated over $4 billion (approximately RMB 27.68 billion). In the first eleven months of 2022, the mobile version’s revenue was approximately $1.64 billion (approximately RMB 11.32 billion). This does not include PC, console, and other revenue streams.
[Image Source: Genshin Impact Official Website]
It is noteworthy that miHoYo, the developer of Genshin Impact, had previously filed for an IPO in 2017, but later withdrew its application.
According to Hongxing News, based on data from mobile application analytics platform Sensor Tower, several consumers complained recently about children using their parents’ phones to make in-game purchases in the games of Shanghai miHoYo Fengtie Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as miHoYo). The amounts ranged from several thousand yuan to tens of thousands of yuan.
When these consumers requested refunds, they encountered issues such as “customer push-off,” “difficult to provide evidence,” and “refunds refused.”
A portion of the recharge records provided by Mr. Zeng showed that in early January, he received a bank notification about his credit card bill being overdue. After careful consideration, he realized that it was a long-unused credit card that had never been used for transactions. How did the bill appear overdue? Mr. Zeng requested to print the consumption details from the bank, which showed that he had recharged 3,300 yuan and 5,732 yuan to Shanghai miHoYo Fengtie Technology Co., Ltd. in December and January of this year, totaling 9,032 yuan.
Mr. Zeng was puzzled and later remembered that his 12-year-old child had taken his phone for studying purposes. After questioning the child, he admitted that to bypass the game time restrictions set by the anti-addiction system, he used his parent’s ID to register and play miHoYo’s “Genshin Impact,” and made in-game purchases through Mr. Zeng’s phone.
Since the purchase was made by a minor, Mr. Zeng requested a refund from miHoYo’s customer service and provided his child’s real-name phone number for the game account, the real-name bank card number for the payment, the payment bill proof, student ID, and online course proof, among other documents. However, miHoYo refused to accept the refund application, citing that the registered identity information was not a close relative, and closed the appeal channel.
Genshin Impact’s Revenue Surges Amid Controversies Over In-Game Purchases and Refund Requests
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