After a series of global hits like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, HoYoverse's latest game, Zenless Zone Zero, has fallen short of expectations. According to Bloomberg, its revenue during the launch window was less than half of what Genshin and Honkai brought in during similar periods.

Analysts suggest the anime-RPG market may be nearing saturation. Combined with internal competition among HoYoverse's own titles, this has led to a reported 23% drop in the company’s revenue in 2024, totaling $4.7 billion. Industry experts attribute the decline to both genre fatigue and an increasingly crowded marketplace.

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To counter this downturn, HoYoverse is expanding into new genres. The studio is currently developing several games, including a first-person shooter, a farming sim, and multiple open-world titles. Talent from Ubisoft and Electronic Arts has reportedly been brought in to help.

The most ambitious of these efforts appears to be Project Shanghai — described as a Grand Theft Auto-inspired open-world game. Led by Genshin Impact producer Cai, this project is rumored to surpass even Genshin in scale. However, development has seen multiple restarts, and the U.S.-based team was laid off due to time zone coordination issues.

In parallel, the studio has launched Anuttacon’s debut project, Whispers from the Star, where players interact with an AI-generated girl. Cai’s vision remains bold: to build a virtual world that can host a billion players by 2030.

Main image: playstation.com

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