Microsoft powers up search for Chinese gaming hits in race against Sony
The HinduMicrosoft Corp is stocking up on Chinese video game content to emulate Sony Group Corp's success with "Genshin Impact", sources said, solidifying China's transition from a land only of players to a hub of blockbuster developers. The action role-playing game from budding Shanghai studio miHoYo has generated billions of dollars since its release two years ago, and raised the bar in multi-player, cross-platform games - the type sources said Microsoft and Sony seek in China for their Game Pass and PlayStation Plus subscription services. Illustrating the money involved, filings showed Microsoft paid $2.5 million to feature action game "ARK: Survival Evolved" on Game Pass and $2.3 million for sequel ARK 2 - both from U.S. developer Studio Wildcard, owned by China's Snail Games. The trend accelerated with regulatory restrictions on new games and limits on the number of imports, and benefited from the return of engineers who had worked at top-tier studios such as Ubisoft Entertainment SA and Activision Blizzard Inc. Gaming executives now point to "Genshin Impact" as a global industry milestone, lauding its production value and seamless cross-platform game play.
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