ABOVE: There’s even
the option to play
co-op, though it’s
relatively limited.Gamenamexxxx
FE ATURE
and we wanted to share this passion
with the world,” Cai tells me. “The
other reason was we didn’t see many
anime-style games that really
intrigued us, so we decided to create
a company to make anime games that
were exciting for us.”
Traditionally a Japanese word for
socially-incapable dorks obsessed
with anime, Cai, Wei and Luo have
turned ‘otaku’ into a badge of honour.
It’s baked right into MiHoYo’s slogan
“Tech otakus save the world”.
That emphasis on games for
otakus, by otakus came to define
MiHoYo’s first few games. Before the
company was even officially founded,
the trio released FlyMe2theMoon, a
simple mobile game where you
control a cutesy anime girl with a
jetpack, gliding through twisting
levels to collect gems and stars. But
even the release of MiHoYo’s earliest
mobile games like undead brawlers
Zombiegal Kawaii and Guns GirlZ
demonstrated two things: a shrewd
awareness of what was popular in
gaming (both games came out around
the time that zombie survival games
like DayZ were exploding) and a
knack for killer art.
Early on, Cai explains, MiHoYo
found success by sticking to what it
knew. Instead of following the trendof a lot of popular Chinese free-to-
play games, which were competitive
but also flagrantly pay-to-win,
MiHoYo went in a different direction.
It gambled everything on otakus’
thirst for anime girls. “In the early
years of our company, we sought to
make products for a rather niche
market and user demographic,” Cai
explains. “Our team was also still very
small at the time, so we narrowed our
focus to a specific player base.”
During the China Games Industry
Annual Conference in 2017, Liu
described this approach as “paying
for love”. The philosophy was simple:
if you make the girls cute andWAIFOGRAPHY A quick overview of MiHoYo’s previous games
ZOMBIEGAL KAWAII
2012
Sidescrolling shooter where
you play chibi anime girls with
guns fighting off big packs of
ravenous zombies.HONKAI IMPACT 3RD
2016
MiHoYo’s first breakout hit,
Honkai Impact 3rd is a
character-action game that
combines tons of genres.GUNS GIRLZ
2014
Guns GirlZ is a spiritual sequel
to Zombiegal Kawaii, with
more story and characters to
fill out the experience.TEARS OF THEMIS
2020
MiHoYo’s first ‘otome’ game, a
visual novel or dating sim
geared toward women. Not
available in English yet.FLYME2THEMOON
2011
A simple, cutesy mobile game
similar to Flappy Bird. Collect
stuff, avoid the obstacles,
reach the end of the level.