Genshin Impact has been crowned the winner of PlayStation’s Players' Choice for September. The elemental adventure has also made more than $100 million in less than two weeks, and has been downloaded more than 17 million times since its release on September 28.
Announced via the PlayStation Blog, miHoYo’s open-world RPG won in a “landslide victory”, standing as the dark horse of last month's releases. While Genshin Impact’s success was unanimous, the battle for runner-up was a little tougher, as Spellbreak and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 completed last month’s top trio. Genshin Impact also beat the highly-anticipated Marvel’s Avengers for first place and has surpassed the expectations of many after being labelled as a clone of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Fans enlightened us on the thinking process behind deciding September’s winner, mainly highlighting how voters look to new games - especially new IP - to be considered for the crown. While Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 was a hit, it was a remake in the minds of voters, and therefore fell by the wayside. Spelunky 2, Mafia: Definitive Edition, and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim were also September nominees, receiving many accolades from Players’ Choice participants.
Genshin Impact has also earned another title as the most successful global launch of a Chinese game, that has already managed to recover its $100 million budget. Fans of the game are now hoping for a Nintendo Switch port, to bring its unique combat system and beautiful visuals to the portable screen. Still, within its first month of releasing, Genshin Impact’s 1.2 update will include the addition of the Dragonspine region for players to explore in December.
PlayStation now looks to the October line-up for Players' Choice, which saw The Outer Worlds bag last year’s October title. Torchlight 3 and Amnesia: Rebirth may be in the running, and Watch Dogs Legion might also make the cut with its late October 29 release. However, there’s no telling what will become of November’s fight to the death, which will see Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Cyberpunk 2077 and a slew of next-gen launch titles duke it out for the crown.