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Genshin Impact's early popularity explodes to 23 million downloads in first week

Number one title across 74 countries on iOS and 33 on Google Play

Genshin Impact's early popularity explodes to 23 million downloads in first week

Genshin Impact has accumulated over 23 million downloads in its first week of launch, according to App Annie data.

The free-to-play open-world action RPG from MiHoYo rolled out globally on September 28th, and since then has gone on to break the top 10 titles for Q3 2020 (App Store and Google Play combined) in the US, Germany, Japan and South Korea.

As of October 1st, Genshin Impact reached the number one spot for overall downloads across China (iOS only), Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Genshin Impact has crossed over into the top five charts in 74 countries on iOS, including, Mexico, Germany, Brazil, the US and more. The highest-ranking of these were France and Mexico, where it currently stands at second in both charts.

Similarly, the game found success on Google Play, achieving a top-five position in 33 countries.

$100 million budget

Initially, early previews for Genshin Impact compared the game to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Nintendo Switch, though it now seems to be going on to find its own identity.

App Annie noted that typically mobile titles that launch well in the US fall under the hypercasual genre, naturally because they appeal to a wider market.

This only emphasises the impressive start by Genshin Impact, with the RPG placing higher than both Pokemon GO and Candy Crush Saga for consumer spend worldwide on September 30th.

Developer MiHoYo will undoubtedly be thrilled with Genshin Impact's early stats, yet it will need to continue to recoup the reported $100 million budget that was poured into the game's making and marketing.

Genshin Impact has already been confirmed as the "biggest global launch of a Chinese game ever," with these new numbers showing that the title is not looking to slow down anytime soon.

Flipping the narrative, Call of Duty: Mobile recently surpassed 46 million pre-registrations in China, something that will be interesting to see how the Western IP fares in Asian territory.

Deputy Editor

Matthew Forde is the deputy editor at PocketGamer.biz and also a member of the Pocket Gamer Podcast. You can find him on Twitter @MattForde64 talking about stats, data and everything pop culture related - particularly superheroes.