Treabar, what lessons can we learn from the gens of Genshin Impact？

The MiHoYo Guangkui campus, located on Changwu Road, often sees long queues forming at the entrance during weekends, becoming a sacred site for fans of games like “Genshin Impact” and “Bishou: Star Rail” alike. According to Sensor Tower data, in 2022, MiHoYo’s “Genshin Impact” topped the annual overseas mobile game revenue, and in May this year, “Bishou: Star Rail” surpassed it to claim the top spot. Among the top ten most popular mobile games globally in terms of revenue, half are Chinese games that have adopted localization and regionalization strategies, entering the mainstream audience and conveying China’s unique cultural charm and values to the world, thereby enhancing the international influence of Chinese culture.
A significant part of the upcoming ChinaJoy will feature a “Game Industry Outbound Development Forum” at the Beidaihe虹桥 in Beijing, where multiple industry experts will share insights on what these successful Chinese games have done to succeed in the global market.
Games serve as a global linguistic and cultural carrier with cross-border characteristics and shared development potential. “Genshin Impact” stands out as a benchmark for its diverse cultural creation methods, which have successfully opened up the global market. The open-world adventure game “Genshin Impact” establishes its story in seven “countries,” with each “country” incorporating cultural elements and symbols from different regions of the world. Monté, inspired by medieval Europe, and Liyue, with a strong Chinese cultural flavor, are the two “countries” that have received the most resonance from players in France and Western Europe. Its diverse content enables “Genshin Impact” to attract players from various cultural backgrounds from the moment it launches globally.
Behind the success of “Genshin Impact” lies the effort towards “localization.” MiHoYo has assembled a team of language experts who are fluent in multiple languages. These experts not only communicate and understand each other in their native languages but also find suitable expressions in the target language and culture to accurately convey the information and its context. MiHoYo’s experience is that “we need to showcase the appeal of the IP itself while also catering to the preferences of local players.” For instance, during the “Genshin Impact” offline art exhibition held in Paris, the exhibition showcased game illustrations, design sketches, and notes alongside works by top French players, allowing European players not only to understand the cultural connotations behind the IP but also to produce a wealth of derivative works.
Games not only create diversified social values but also serve as important bridges for cultural exchange. The self-developed Chinese martial arts game “Eternal Struggle” by NetEase, with its unique Eastern aesthetics and rich historical文化底蕴, has attracted a large number of players. The “Dad is the Boss” series and other games developed by Yixin Technology, a subsidiary of the IT group, use digital means to present traditional culture, enhancing the connection between new generations of users and traditional culture. Games like “Home Life” further promote the innovation and retransmission of traditional culture, enabling players to experience traditional rural culture through virtual scenes and then move to real-world settings, transforming the traditional cultural elements within games into new resources for rural “new tourism.”
The inclusiveness and innovation of Chinese civilization are vividly portrayed in the game world. As a new cultural form closely tied to technology, the game industry is rapidly developing in high quality, and China’s game industry is becoming a “Cultural Heritage Emblem of China.”