Genshin Impact was one of the biggest hits of 2020. The expansive roleplaying game from developer miYoHo took the world by storm on mobile, console, and PC, rapidly racking up players and becoming one of the breakout success stories of the year.
The hype was already building before release, with 21.3 million people registering for the game before it launched on September 28. The first week saw 17 million people download the game across all platforms, and Genshin Impact managed to topple Fortnite from the top of the Twitch rankings on the first day it was available.
While it is very difficult to know how many players the game has peaked at, or how many active players the game has in 2021, you can be sure that millions of people still play it daily. Part of this long term success is the regular updates, introducing new characters, mechanics, and areas to play through.
The game’s next update, Genshin Impact 1.3, promises a flurry of events designed to keep players engaged and playing the game, so we wouldn’t be surprised if the game sets a new concurrent player record when it is released.
The main attraction in Genshin Impact is the cast of characters that you can earn from playing, engaging with the gacha system, and then use to build up your team. Experimenting with character builds and party setups mean there is a huge amount of theorycrafting that keeps the diehards engaged, while the more casual players always have another story quest to finish, or a new character to experiment with. As long as the game manages to appeal to new players and keep veterans happy, it will always have a healthy playerbase.
