Why you should keep hoping for Genshin Impact on Xbox consoles
The more, the merrier, right?
To call Genshin Impact “popular” is an understatement. Since the free-to-play action RPG launched in September 2020, it has generated over $2 billion for its developer/publisher, miHoYo, which is based in Shanghai, China. The game is available on PS4, PS5, and PC, as well as iOS and Android devices. At least in the United States, Genshin Impact became the largest launch of a mobile game in history — so naturally, we can’t help but wonder if it’ll ever expand to other platforms. Could Genshin Impact ever come to Xbox?
Is Genshin Impact on Xbox?
Currently, Genshin Impact is not available on Xbox platforms, and there’s no official word on whether that’s going to change. Developer miHoYo confirmed this in 2020.
Genshin Impact isn’t available on Xbox yet, but that could change.
“We have plans regarding next-generation consoles, and we will be announcing them as these plans take shape," the company said. "We do not currently have plans to release the game on Xbox." Keep in mind, this statement was made many months ago, which is more than enough time for this to change.
When is the Genshin Impact Xbox release date?
It’s not out of the question for Genshin to come to Xbox.
With the success of Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s gaming subscription service, the Xbox brand has picked up steam over the last year. This has attracted more consumers to the platform, making it more popular than ever. Because of this, it would certainly make sense to bring Genshin Impact to Xbox, as there are plenty of users who would at least give it a try, especially since the action RPG is free.
Xbox hasn’t sold well in Asian markets historically, which could be a contributing factor as to why Genshin Impact hasn’t made it to the platform yet. However, the Xbox Series X system has seen tremendous growth in Japan, according to IGN (as relayed by TechRadar), so this could be a turning point.
Since Genshin Impact is able to run on mobile devices as well as PS5, technical limitations aren’t the reason for its absence on Xbox platforms. It’s almost certainly a business-related decision that could change depending on a number of factors.
Either way, it’s possible Genshin Impact will eventually come to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S given the platform’s recent success.
As of October 2021, Senior Analyst at Niko Partners Daniel Ahmad estimated there are around 8 million Xbox Series X|S systems in the wild, while Xbox One capped at an estimated 41 million units as of 2019. So there are potentially well over 50 million Xbox users, which could justify porting Genshin to the platform. For now, there is no shortage of places to play Genshin Impact. And, as Genshin Impact gets bigger and bigger, its appearance on Xbox seems like an inevitability.
Genshin Impact is available for free on PS4, PS5, PC, Android, and iOS, while a Switch version is still in the works.
