Genshin Impact surpasses GTA 5 and Fortnite in terms of first-year revenue: Reports

According to data from various sources, Genshin Impact has had the highest first-year gaming revenue of all time.

Most players should already know that Genshin Impact is a financial success. Some banners, like the Raiden Shogun's, have dominated the market. Genshin Impact has hit the number one spot on both Android and iOS devices for monthly sales in the past year.

Now a new source states that Genshin Impact has had the highest first-year gaming revenue of all time. It's important to note that it's for a first-year title, and it only includes revenue, not necessarily profit.

Here are some non-Sportskeeda sources for curious readers:

• This hyperlink redirects players to Pastebin with several links to other data. Readers are strongly encouraged to check every link in it.
• This hyperlink shows some data involving Genshin Impact's September 2021 sales and how it dominated the market.
• This hyperlink confirms that Genshin Impact has made over $2 billion in revenue for its first year.

The above Reddit post includes various infographics that readers may wish to check out. For those that can't check it out, the first image states, "Highest First Year Gaming Revenue of All time (in billions USD)":

1. Genshin Impact: 2.3 - 3.5+
2. Fortnite: 2.3 - 2.8
3. Grand Theft Auto 5: 2.1
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: 2.05
5. Animal Crossing: New Horizons: 2
6. Red Dead Redemption: 1.65
7. Monster Strike: 1.5
8. Candy Crush: 1.35
9. Puzzle & Dragons: 1.3
10. PUBG: 1.25
11. Lineage M: 1.2
12. Pokemon Go: 1.15

According to the Pastebin source, Genshin Impact made $2.1 billion for mobile devices only (not counting 3rd party Android). The rest of the estimates come from other devices (PlayStation, PC, and 3rd party Android).

The high-end figure assumes that mobile has made the most money, which ties into the previous confirmation of Genshin Impact making over $2 billion.

The low-end part of Fortnite's estimate comes from a legal battle involving Epic Games and Apple Inc.

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Looking at Genshin Impact's monstrous success for its first-year revenue

The Raiden Shogun's banner was especially beneficial to Genshin Impact's success (Image via miHoYo)

Assuming this data is accurate, then it's an impressive testament to Genshin Impact's success for a game that's barely a year old. The other games on that list are well-known in some parts of the world.

Particularly, GTA 5 and Fortnite stand out as financial juggernauts. GTA 5 infamously made over $1 billion in its first three days. If the above data sources are correct, then it slowed down to $2.1 billion by the end of its first year.

It's worth noting that this data is referring to first-year revenue. GTA 5 still makes almost a billion dollars a year, and it was a game released in 2013, so its lifetime sales are much higher than what's depicted here.

Fortnite & GTA 5 are still profitable (Image via Epic Games, Rockstar Games)

Fortnite is a game that's deeply intertwined with gaming culture. Like Genshin Impact, it's F2P with microtransactions. Both Fortnite and GTA 5 are going strong in the modern era.

Even if the sales data are slightly off, the fact remains that Genshin Impact has made a tremendous impact regarding its first-year revenue. miHoYo is not a publically-traded company, so they have not released any official data.