Robin Guo, gaming partner at a16z, discusses developer miHoYo's growth trajectory and the capital requirements for high-budget anime video games.
Assertion Supported
Anime games achieve $30-$50 ARPU, up to 3x higher than standard games
“And so that's why you see like art proves as high as like, 3040, 50 dollars, whereas, like, some other games, ARPU might be more in the, like, 10 to 20 dollar range, so it's like, you know, three acts for, you know, potentially two to three acts what, like, a …”
Assertion Partly supported
Guo: miHoYo generated over $3.8B in 2022 from Genshin and Honkai
“For instance, Mahoyo generated over 3.8 billion dollars from releases like Genshin Impact and Hawkeye Star Rail in twenty-twenty-two.”
Insight
Guo: Gacha mechanics drive high ARPU in anime games
“The one thing that's distinguishing about anime games in particular, which tends to drive the high ARPU is the gacha component.”
Assertion Supported
Guo: 50% of millennials and 70% of Gen Z watch anime
“If you look at the stats, I think something like 50% of millennials, and now, like, 70% of Gen Z watch anime, and so, like, more and more young people are watching, converting to the medium”
Prediction Held up
Guo: Generative AI will lower anime game production costs
“Many people will be generating both like Mods and fan art, but also people will be using this in the production setting to get anime games out for cheaper and getting them out at, like, very high quality. So I think that will definitely happen for sure.”
Insight
Anime is defined by its fanbase, not country of origin
“There's no real, like, hard and fast lines for, like, what defines anime, right? So some people consider Avatar The Last Airbender, which is, like, a American cartoon, or RWBY, which is another American cartoon anime too. And so, like, I think the genre is, li…”