Three anime-obsessed college students from Shanghai built a game studio that generates more revenue than most Hollywood studios — without taking a single dollar of venture funding. Genshin Impact made $5 billion by giving a $100 million AAA game away for free and selling virtual anime characters for $3 each through gacha pulls. MiHoYo is proof that cultural products can be worth more than technology products, and that three nerds with good taste can outcompete companies with 10,000 employees.
Founded
2011
HQ
Shanghai, China
Total Raised
Self-funded (profitable from early games)
Founder
Cai Haoyu, Liu Wei, Luo Yuhao
Status
Private — extremely profitable. Renamed to HoYoverse for global branding
Website
www.hoyoverse.comTHE ORIGIN STORY
Three classmates at Shanghai Jiao Tong University — Cai Haoyu, Liu Wei, and Luo Yuhao — were obsessed with anime and games. In 2011, they founded miHoYo (literally "tech otaku saves the world" in Chinese internet slang) to make the anime-style games they wanted to play but couldn't find.
Their early mobile games (Zombiegal Kawaii, Gun GirlZ) were modest hits, but Honkai Impact 3rd (2016) proved they could build globally competitive action games. The company reinvested all profits into their magnum opus: Genshin Impact.
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO
Free-to-play game developer and publisher specializing in anime-style open-world and action games with gacha (loot box) monetization. Players download and play for free, then spend money on virtual characters, weapons, and cosmetic items through randomized "gacha" pulls.
The model is extraordinarily profitable — Genshin Impact alone has generated over $5 billion in revenue since its 2020 launch. Revenue comes entirely from in-game purchases.
THE PRODUCTS
Genshin Impact ($5B+ revenue, open-world action RPG set in Teyvat), Honkai: Star Rail (turn-based space RPG, $1B+ revenue in first year), Honkai Impact 3rd (mobile/PC action game), Zenless Zone Zero (urban action game), and the upcoming Genshin-universe expansions.
HOW THEY GREW
Cross-platform and global-first. MiHoYo/HoYoverse releases games on PC, PlayStation, and mobile simultaneously — not just mobile like most Asian game companies.
Their games launch in 15+ languages from day one, treating the global market as primary rather than afterthought. The strategy: build world-class anime-style games that appeal to the 500+ million people globally who love anime culture.
THE HARD PART
Content velocity. Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail require constant updates — new characters, quests, and regions every few weeks — to keep players engaged and spending.
The production quality rivals AAA console games, but the update cadence is mobile-game fast. This requires hundreds of developers, artists, and voice actors working simultaneously across multiple languages.
One bad update can trigger massive player backlash and revenue drops.
WHO BACKED THEM
MiHoYo (now HoYoverse) has been largely self-funded through profits from its own games. No major external venture funding.
The company generates billions in annual revenue from its games.
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