Genshin Impact on Xbox?

Genshin Impact is currently only available for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on the console market. However, a recent report from Reuters claims that wasn’t always going to be the case. Genshin Impact could’ve been on Xbox.

Is Genshin Impact going to be on Xbox?

Microsoft is looking for a “Genshin Impact clone” of its own as an Xbox exclusive or Game Pass title.

Microsoft reportedly passed on the chance to make Genshin Impact an Xbox console exclusive, something the company regretted after the game blew up. As reported by Reuters, sources familiar with the matter said Microsoft met with Chinese developer miHoYo early in Genshin Impact’s development but failed to reach an exclusivity deal. Sony would later secure the deal for itself, making the game a PlayStation console exclusive.

“Microsoft regretted missing out on Genshin Impact,” two sources told Reuters.

Microsoft gets in line to compete with Sony

Microsoft has traditionally struggled in the Chinese console market, while Sony had a head start with the China Hero Project in 2017, a program created to help Chinese game developers publish games on its consoles. Genshin Impact is part of the latest shift in the global view of the games industry, legitimizing Chinese developers in the eyes of Microsoft and Western audiences in general.

It has had its fair share of clones already, like Tower of Fantasy and The Legend of Neverland, but none of them have come close to its level of success. Genshin Impact was repeatedly called a Breath of the Wild clone during its own launch, but no competitor has managed to match it so far.

Microsoft is determined not to miss the opportunity next time. And it appears the secret is out among Chinese developers. Representatives of a company who already have a title on Game Pass told Reuters they’re holding out for a better deal on the sequel.

“We are not signing it yet because we think that when we fully complete our game, it will get an even better offer,” they said.

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