Fact Check: Is Genshin Impact in the same universe as Honkai Impact 3rd?

Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3rd are two of miHoYo's most popular titles, so it's only natural that the two are often compared to one another. Some of those comparisons inevitably lead to fans wondering if they take place in the same universe. After all, both have "Impact" in their names and have a similar art direction.

miHoYo CEO Haoyu Cai once stated the following in regards to why the company wanted to create Genshin Impact:

"It is because our company has a goal in mind, and which is to create the Honkai Universe... We first had this idea back in 2014, long before we started Genshin Impact."

That quote can be seen in the video excerpt down below.

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Genshin Impact is in the same universe as Honkai Impact 3rd

This video contains all the relevant information regarding the two games' connection to one another. Essentially, both titles take place in a centralized universe known as the Honkai Universe. There haven't been many crossovers between the two series yet, but that's not to say that there haven't been any thus far.

The most notable one was a fun event where players could play as Keqing and Fischl in Honkai Impact 3rd, with the latter character being a permanent addition to the game's roster. However, that crossover was more about fanservice than meaningful storyline connections.

Some people might recall the above Reddit post (or something similar to it), where the customer support email states that the two games are not related. However, it is worth noting that the company CEO, Haoyu Cai, said something contrary to this opinion (seen in the first video of this article).

Naturally, a CEO's statement will hold more meaning than a support team's email. The email address shown above is great for answering technical questions, but the people behind it won't always have immediate answers to a question like this one. Hence, it's not surprising to see conflicting answers when comparing those responses to the CEO's official response.

It is worth mentioning that there haven't been any Honkai Impact 3rd crossovers in Genshin Impact as of yet.

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Honkai Impact 3rd influences in Genshin Impact

An example of an expy (Image via miHoYo)

Another huge reason why some Travelers might wonder if the two games take place in the same universe is the design of some of the games' characters. For example, Genshin Impact's Yae Miko bears a striking resemblance to Honkai Impact 3rd's Yae Sakura.

As seen in the above example, there are expies of Honkai Impact 3rd in Genshin Impact. However, they're not the same characters; both Yae Miko and Yae Sakura have different lores, motivations, etc.

There is a concept in Honkai Impact 3rd known as Bubble Universes, which is essentially alternate universes in a multiverse. Apart from seeing Dvalin in that game, the two titles' connection to one another is still unclear past the CEO's comments on the matter.

As of right now, the two games are confirmed to be in the same universe (the Honkai Universe), although their connections aren't too well-established at the moment.

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