Hoyoverse Is Setting A New Standard For The Gacha Industry

For as long as gacha games have existed, they have remained a rather niche category of gaming, but that was until Hoyoverse stepped into the market and sent shockwaves across the industry. My first experience with the company was when I first heard about Honkai Impact 3rd from a friend of mine in early 2017 when the company still went by the name of miHoyo (I’m looking at you new players). 

Any Hoyo veteran would easily give their life to say that regardless of the ongoing drama between different Hoyo titles, it remains true that Hoyo has managed to set standards when put side by side with direct gacha competitors such as Kuro Games or Hotta Studios. 

Gachas have always been the laughingstock of the industry. Still, all were put to the side once Hoyo stepped in, raking in billions of dollars in revenue, single-handedly reviving the gacha genre for mobile gaming and bringing it to the Western media. 

Hoyoverse Became The Pioneer For Well-Optimized Mobile Gacha Games 

AAA Titles have typically always stayed outside of the mobile-game realm such as the Nier Series, God of War, Persona series, and everything in between. The real competition began when mobile gaming was taken seriously, and games such as Infinity Blade broke frontiers by becoming one of the fastest-growing mobile games in 2010. 

However, gacha games have always lagged behind, with titles such as Maplestory or Konami’s Dragon Collection being one of the first gacha games to see success. They lacked an enticing storyline, well-rounded characters, and a good musical aspect. 

Before Genshin Impact was released in 2020, Hoyo had already released a widely popular game called Honkai Gakuen, followed by Honkai Impact 3rd, but that didn’t do as well since its popularity was mostly settled outside of the Western player base. 

With the release of Genshin, it practically Isakie’d the West and was quick to climb the charts, as reviewed for it being one of the most “beautiful games” released on mobile. Its success was quick, and I was soon to follow into the hellhole that the game was. 

There Is Definitely Crack Instilled In Hoyo Games 

I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a crack embedded into Hoyo games, specifically in games like Genshin or Honkai Star Rail. When I first started playing Genshin, I was instantly hooked, and I mean HOOKED. The open-world aspect, the captivating storyline, and the music? Goodness gracious … the music. Yu Peng Chen released banger after banger with every new region. 

Liyue has a rather orientalist style, while Mondtstat has a rather traditional music style. Whales also take the cake with how much they fund the game. 

After Genshin, I got hooked onto Honkai Star Rail, but amidst all of this, I also tried out countless other gachas such as Fate Grand Order, Arknights, Punishing Gray Raven, Eversoul, Tower of Fantasy, but none could give me the satisfaction that I felt when I played a Hoyo title. Instances of players being physically addicted to the player were seen, and one player even wondered if there could ever be a title released that could do as well as Genshin. 

It’s almost comical just how successful games such as Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail are. While there are critical issues with the game, such as the lack of QoL changes or the lack of proper end-game content within Genshin, the revenues are still off the charts (please laugh). 

I was shocked to find out just how popular the games are, but the stats don’t lie as can be seen from the Jan + Feb gacha games revenue charts alone. Hoyo games have a rather predatory mindset when it comes to rewarding its player base for playing its games, and games such as Honkai Star Rail even have a small note on the bottom of the top-up page telling players to spend money within a limit. 

A Well-Rounded Experience Is What Sells Hoyo Games 

Genshin Impact isn’t just an open-world masterpiece. It also has players hooked by the way its storyline progresses, and each piece of lore is slowly introduced to the player. Arcs such as the Fontaine Arcs, and the Sumeru Arcs were, in my opinion, one of the most well-written questlines, bringing me to tears insanely fast. 

Hoyoverse knows what it takes to impact their players emotionally, and the character lore, tied together with possibly one of the BEST video-game music to have ever been released, needs to be analyzed by professionals. The composition, the dark themes, the electric guitar usage, everything is hauntingly beautiful about Genshin OSTs. 

Each character seems to have their own story, making them feel alive, and each character’s interaction with the player makes it seem even more addictive to keep playing for longer. 

This isn’t to say that Hoyo is a perfect company, God no. I think I can say for nearly the entire player base that there is SO much that can be improved upon, from its overarching end-game that’s severely lacking in Genshin Impact to changes that are still pending in Honkai Star Rail to the sheer underwhelming update that was the part 2 of Honkai Impact 3rd that was recently introduced. 

Takeaway 

All in all, Hoyoverse can produce well-developed titles that are competing with some good AAA titles when it comes to their storyline, and some of the boss themes, such as Signora’s boss fight or Scaramouche’s Polumnia Omnia Boss Fight Theme directly comparable to a boss fight that you would encounter in a Soulsborne game. 

That being said, Hoyoverse needs to up its game to provide proper end-game content if it wants to see its success going through the charts and holding its place in players’ hearts.