What you need to know
- At Gamescom, Microsoft and HoyoVerse announced that Genshin Impact, the wildly popular RPG gatcha game is finally coming to Xbox.
- The fantasy action RPG allows players to collect anime-styled heroes across a large and high-quality storyline, complete with tight combat and impressive visuals.
- The game is wildly popular on PC, PlayStation, and mobile devices, and its arrival on Xbox is slated for November 20, 2024, complete with some kind of Xbox Game Pass tie-in.
- Now, it seems that Microsoft and HoyoVerse have kicked up a marketing campaign for the game, which features ads in both New York’s Time Square as well as London, UK.
As someone who has been following the gaming industry for decades, I can’t help but feel a sense of vindication seeing Genshin Impact finally making its way to Xbox. I remember writing that editorial lamenting Xbox’s absence from the Hoyoverse gaming universe, and it seems like Microsoft heard my plea loud and clear!
Surely, they argue that it’s more advantageous to be late than never, isn’t that correct? It seems that nothing exemplifies this idea quite like Genshin Impact on Xbox.
Recently, I penned an editorial highlighting that Xbox had missed out on games developed by Hoyoverse. Titles like Genshin Impact, Zenless Zone Zero, and Honkai Star Rail have been among this generation’s biggest earners, raking in billions within a short period. These games are part of a new wave of universally accessible titles, playable on consoles, mobile devices, and PC with synchronized accounts and free-to-play options. They’ve garnered immense popularity among the gen-z demographic, and their absence from Xbox had potentially turned off millions of gamers. However, that changed last month when…
At Gamescom 2024, Microsoft and HoyoVerse (MiHoYo) announced that Genshin Impact will become available on Xbox by November 20, 2024. Furthermore, the Xbox version of Genshin Impact is expected to have some form of integration with Xbox Game Pass. Similar free-to-play games associated with Game Pass often come with additional benefits. For instance, subscribers of both Xbox and PC Game Pass for Valorant and League of Legends can access the entire character roster without having to buy individual characters separately.
Microsoft and HoYoverse are making it clear to the public that Genshin Impact will be available on Xbox, as recent tweets suggest that Xbox has been actively promoting the game in preparation for its release.
Microsoft has put up big advertisements throughout New York City in the U.S., promoting the upcoming release of the game on Xbox and including a QR code to add it to your wishlist. If you prefer, you can also pre-download Genshin Impact onto your Xbox right now by clicking this link.
Moreover, Microsoft UK hosted an interactive event at Lancaster Place, London yesterday, featuring Genshin Impact cosplay participants, playable demonstration devices, and real in-game prizes for attendees.
The marketing blitz is similar to Microsoft’s efforts around Persona 5 last year, which is another game that was notoriously Xbox-absent. It seems marketing support is one way in which Microsoft is able to coax publishers over to the Xbox platform, despite its “third place” status in terms of install base. For both parties, it should be a win-win, as the Game Pass tie-in should yield new users for Microsoft, with HoyoVerse gaining access to a potentially fresh audience as it hits saturation levels on its existing platforms.
There seems to be some indication that games from Hoyoverse, such as Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, and Zenless Zone Zero, which share similar gameplay styles and target audiences, are taking players away from one another. Notably, Honkai Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero currently have exclusive releases on PlayStation 5, but considering that Genshin Impact is available on Xbox, it’s likely that these other games will also be accessible on Xbox and Xbox Game Pass in the future.
Hopefully Microsoft won’t miss out on the next big industry hit
Recently, there’s been ongoing debate about Xbox’s third-party developer support for quite some time now. For instance, we’ve only recently secured Genshin Impact, but it came a bit late. However, Microsoft has made significant efforts to bring games like Final Fantasy 14, Persona, and Yakuza to Xbox in recent years. Nevertheless, titles such as Black Myth Wukong and Enotria: The Last Song have bypassed the platform due to insufficient support from Xbox, causing their release dates to be postponed indefinitely. Similarly, Capcom has overlooked Xbox for its Fighting Game Collection 2 and other retro ports, but I’ve been told that this issue should be resolved soon.
Microsoft has certainly achieved successes as well. Their significant impact came from PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on consoles, a game that propelled the battle royale genre to widespread popularity. Additionally, Xbox secured Palworld exclusively this year, making it Q1’s top-selling title on Steam.
The increased attention on Xbox indicates its mixed signals and apparent disinterest in its console division lately, as it phases out exclusive games and moves to release all of its titles on PlayStation 5 instead – a move that PlayStation is unlikely (highly probable) to return the favor. I can’t predict what lies ahead for Xbox, but at least we can look forward to playing Genshin Impact before then.
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2024-09-03 09:09