Genshin Impact developer rebrands to HoYoverse as it prepares "virtual world experience"

Chinese game developer miHoYo, behind the ever-popular RPG title Genshin Impact, has rebranded to HoYoverse as it aims to provide an "immersive virtual world experience" for gamers.

The details: Formerly known as miHoYo, the developer isn't as well-known as the likes of Bungie or Activision Blizzard but it's successful.

• miHoYo is now known as HoYoverse as the company shifts to developing a "virtual world" which, for all intents and purposes, appears to be another metaverse play.
• To aid in its ambitious plans, the company is bolstering its production and technology arms by opening offices in Los Angeles, Montreal, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo.
• The rebrand is said to represent the developer's "growing commitment" to offer more entertainment and experiences to fans, through mediums such as video games, anime, manga, novels, and music.

The breakthrough: HoYoverse broke into the mainstream in 2021 with its Action RPG title Genshin Impact.

• The first year of the game's existence is estimated to have generated at least $2.3 billion in revenue.
• This is believed to be the most revenue of all time generated by a game in its first year, beating out Epic Games' ever-evolving Fortnite.
• Genshin Impact is particularly popular on mobile and generated $577 million from its player base in China alone. Players can progress in the game with free characters, though microtransactions can indeed help.

The landscape: HoYoverse isn't the only developer that's moving fast to capitalize on the growing buzz around the metaverse concept.

• Earlier this month, Nintendo stated its position on the metaverse as believing the concept has "great potential," but the developer is waiting until it can help build it in "an easy-to-understand manner."
• Other major players in gaming like EA, Konami, Sega, Square Enix, and Ubisoft have all either shown or expressed interest in NFTs and blockchain technology, which are prominent features of how many envision the metaverse will function.