It’s no surprise that it’s expensive to run a live service game, but Genshin Impact’s development cost is so high that it’s on track to break records. The popular RPG was released in September 2020, and by the time Genshin Impact 3.0 is released and the game’s second anniversary, HoYoverse will be spending over $500 million to continuously develop the game. Redditor KeiraFaith recently spoke about the game’s development path, citing various (reliable) sources to help put the numbers together.
Genshin Impact’s initial budget was around $100 million, which already puts it on the list of the most expensive games ever made. Constantly creating new content and making sure everything works as smoothly as possible doesn’t come cheap, especially when new releases come out almost every six weeks. This was announced by HoYoverse president Cai Haoyu. Presentation 2021 that Genshin Impact costs $200 million a year to develop a live service game, double the initial budget needed to bring it to life.
Star Citizen currently ranks first among the most expensive games with a development cost of over $400 million, although it has yet to be officially released in full. Cyberpunk 2077 is just below that, costing $316 million to develop. Genshin Impact should overtake both games by the end of this year if their development costs remain the same, which appears to be the case despite recent delays that pushed the update schedule back in May.
Genshin Impact’s annual cost may seem too high to be sustainable when looking at the number of other expensive games, but the gacha market is lucrative. Yoimiya’s current new banner didn’t sell well compared to other characters, but still managed to rake in around $1,183,651 on the Chinese app store on the first day alone. GenshinLab estimates that in the Chinese market alone, HoYoverse has managed to earn over $500 million from its character posters alone, and that doesn’t include international markets.
When version 3.0 releases, HoYoverse will almost certainly gain a lot more, as players are likely to be drawn to the new Sumeru region and its new playable characters.
Source : PC Gamesn
