Wuthering Waves may be the closest gacha game to ever being considered a “Genshin Killer” and actually have something to show for. When it came out, it got more revenue than when Genshin was released back then in 2020. However, as of the time this article is being written, Hoyoverse’s flagship game is still going strong and WuWa has a place in the gacha game market. So, where did the game fail and why didn’t it surpass Genshin Impact?
All this can be explained with two words: Location and Familiarity.
Let’s see Genshin Impact. As soon as we begin the game, we are shown an universal open world full of gorgeous nature, way before we arrive at the first city: Mondstad. Once we got there, we see a city that can easily pass as something medieval-inspired, with characters that have names that evoke a more international appeal. Jane, Diluc, Venti, among others. There is a sense of familiarity, of something that we know and that’s the reason the game got traction when it got released: it was a revolutionary game made with a known foundation.
Wuthering Waves, however, does the opposite. While we also get to see an amazing landscape, it fails in 2 things: the city looks so futuristic that it’s easy for the players to disconnect. Mondstad feels like something we’ve seen before, so its easy to accept, but when we see a futuristic city, its a brand new concept that does not exist in real life, making it hard to relate to. The same thing happens with the characters.
Names like Baizhi, Chixia, Yangyang, Jianxin and others. They all sound japanese and while that is not entirely a bad thing, it makes it harder for the players to connect. Genshin started without a cultural base and in its next update, introduced Liyue and characters with names more japanese like. However, that was after they gained an international appeal, something WuWa failed to do.
Eventually, Wuthering Waves found its footing and fan base. And while it didn’t “kill” Genshin Impact, it offers something brand new on the market. Sadly, it didn’t surpass its competitor and its amazing to see how familiarity can play a key role in the success of a gacha game. But that would be all for now! Be sure to click here to keep reading more articles and we’ll see you in the next one!
