Genshin Impact developer launches HoYoverse, teases metaverse

Popular video game Genshin Impact developer miHoYo announced on Monday the launch of HoYoverse for its global expansion while hinting its entry into the metaverse race.

Fast facts

• The China-based game developer wants to provide a virtual world with a “high level of freedom and immersion,” miHoYo CEO Haoyu Cai said in a statement. 

• MiHoYo is best known for RPG game Genshin Impact which generated around US$2 billion in its debut year of 2020, and was the top-grossing mobile game in the world in September last year with US$341.7 million in player spending.
• China has taken steps to slow down the popularity of blockchain-based applications such as non-fungible tokens (NFT) and cryptocurrencies, and a think tank under the Ministry of State Security last October said the metaverse may pose a threat to national security. 

• Global tech leaders such as Microsoft and Meta have jumped on the metaverse bandwagon and Chinese tech giants such as Tencent and ByteDance already joined the race.