March 2024 saw the continued rise in dominion of miHoYo’s Honkai: Star Rail over its predecessor Genshin Impact, widening the gap over February’s lead significantly.

In fact, on mobile Honkai: Star Rail generated more than double Genshin Impact’s revenue last month according to AppMagic data, bringing in $118.3 million versus Genshin’s $58.5 million.

This also lands March 2024 as Genshin’s worst full month on record by AppMagic estimates, declining monthly through the year so far.

The new star

While AppMagic’s estimates do not include revenue from other platforms or web stores, in-game mobile spending clearly shows Honkai: Star Rail’s resurgence in recent months while Genshin Impact lags behind - explained in part by the two miHoYo games vying for the same audience.

For Star Rail, $118.3 million this March marked its best month for in-app revenue since August 2023’s marginally stronger $118.4 million. However, neither has matched its most lucrative period just after launch, when it generated $208.9 million in May 2023.

Notably, March 27th, 2024 saw the release of Version 2.1 and brought new characters, missions and events; this was also the game’s best-performing day of the month, generating $12.6 million versus only $3.9 million the day prior. It maintained a stable, higher sum for the remainder of the month - showcasing the influence a new version update can have.

Similarly, March 13th, 2024 saw the launch of Version 4.5 in Genshin Impact and was also its best day for player spending last month, raking in $7.1 million. This is compared to only $1.7 million pre-update on March 12th, once again demonstrating this powerful surge. However, the boost trailed off after roughly a week and the game recalibrated at just over $1 million per day on average.

Last week miHoYo greenlit film adaptations of both Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, granted government backing to transform Shanghai into a premier "city of film".