I first saw this question pop up in a Reddit thread a few weeks after Wuthering Waves launched, with hundreds of comments debating the link between the two studios. It’s an easy mix-up to make, honestly. Both brands make polished, cel-shaded open-world anime gacha games with massive global fanbases, and they often dominate the same gaming news cycles and streaming categories. If you’ve found yourself asking does HoYoverse own Wuthering Waves, you’re far from the only player confused by the surface-level similarities between the two popular franchises. This guide will clear up all the confusion, break down who actually owns Wuthering Waves, and explain why the ownership difference matters for you as a player.
Does HoYoverse Own Wuthering Waves? The Straight Answer
Let’s cut straight to the point: no, HoYoverse does not own, develop, or have any official ties to Wuthering Waves. The game is fully created, published, and maintained by Kuro Games, an independent Chinese game development studio that first made a name for itself with the hit action gacha title Punishing: Gray Raven. HoYoverse, for context, is the global publishing arm of miHoYo, the studio behind Genshin Impact, the Honkai series, and Zenless Zone Zero.
There is no corporate or developmental overlap between HoYoverse and Kuro Games when it comes to Wuthering Waves. That means no HoYoverse writers, designers, or developers worked on the game, and HoYoverse does not receive any share of revenue from Wuthering Waves purchases. There’s also no truth to the common rumor that miHoYo invested in Kuro Games; both studios operate as completely separate entities with no shared ownership or funding ties.
The confusion has gotten so common that Kuro Games has even addressed it in official community Q&As in the past, confirming they have no partnership with HoYoverse for Wuthering Waves or any other future projects. So if you see anyone claiming the two studios are linked, you can safely correct them with that official confirmation.
Why So Many Players Mix Up Wuthering Waves and HoYoverse Titles
Even with the official confirmation, it’s not hard to see why so many players assume Wuthering Waves is a HoYoverse game. The two studios target almost exactly the same audience, and their games share a lot of surface-level traits that make them feel connected at first glance. If you’ve only seen short clips of Wuthering Waves on TikTok or YouTube Shorts, you’d be forgiven for mixing it up with a new HoYoverse release.
The most common point of confusion comes from their shared target audience of open-world anime gacha fans. Both games let you explore a massive open world, collect a roster of unique playable characters, and progress through a story-driven campaign with gacha monetization for rare characters and weapons. They also both have similar art styles, with bright cel-shaded graphics and anime-inspired character designs that appeal to the same demographic.
The release timing also played a big role in the mix-up. Wuthering Waves launched right in the middle of a big HoYoverse content cycle, with Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail both dropping major version updates within weeks of Wuthering Waves’ global release. A lot of gaming outlets covered all three updates side by side, which made a lot of casual viewers assume they were all from the same studio. I’ve even seen popular gacha streamers accidentally refer to Wuthering Waves as a new HoYoverse title during their first playthroughs, so the confusion isn’t limited to casual players.
Key Differences Between Kuro Games’ Wuthering Waves and HoYoverse Titles
Once you spend a few hours playing both, the differences between Wuthering Waves and HoYoverse’s library become really obvious. These core differences are the easiest way to tell the studios’ work apart, and they also show the distinct design philosophies each team follows:
- Combat focus: Wuthering Waves prioritizes fast, skill-based action combat with parry and dodge mechanics that feel far more punishing than the more casual combat loops in most HoYoverse titles. You can’t just button-mash your way through hard content in Wuthering Waves; you need to learn boss attack patterns and time your moves perfectly to clear high-difficulty fights.
- World tone: Wuthering Waves is set in a darker, post-apocalyptic world where most of humanity has been wiped out by a cataclysmic event called the Calament. The story has far fewer lighthearted, whimsical moments than HoYoverse titles, which usually balance serious story beats with silly side quests and playful character interactions.
- Monetization structure: Wuthering Waves has a higher pity threshold for limited 5-star characters, sitting at 80 pulls compared to Genshin Impact’s 75 soft pity. But Kuro Games also gives out far more free premium currency during regular events, so most free-to-play players can still get every limited character they want without spending money.
- Post-launch content schedule: Kuro Games releases smaller, more frequent content updates for Wuthering Waves, usually dropping new events or quality-of-life fixes every 2-3 weeks. HoYoverse follows a strict 6-week large update cycle for all its live service games, with each update bringing a big chunk of new story, characters, and explorable area all at once.
These differences don’t make one studio’s games better than the other, of course. It all comes down to personal preference. If you love deep elemental combat systems and casual, cozy exploration, you’ll probably prefer HoYoverse’s games. If you want fast, high-stakes combat and a darker, more focused story, Wuthering Waves will likely be more your speed.
What This Ownership Difference Means for Players
You might be wondering why this ownership distinction even matters if you just enjoy playing the games. But there are a few practical implications that directly affect you as a player, so it’s worth knowing the difference between the two studios.
First, there are no cross-game rewards or promotions between Wuthering Waves and HoYoverse titles. You won’t get free Primogems for Genshin Impact for logging into Wuthering Waves, and there’s no way to link your HoYoverse and Kuro Games accounts for any kind of bonus. You should never share your HoYoverse account details with anyone claiming to offer Wuthering Waves rewards, as these are always scam attempts.
Support teams for the two studios are also completely separate. If you run into an issue with your Wuthering Waves account, lost purchases, or a bug in the game, you’ll need to contact Kuro Games support directly. HoYoverse support can’t help you with any Wuthering Waves-related issues, and vice versa. A lot of players waste time reaching out to the wrong support team, so knowing who owns the game saves you a lot of hassle if you ever run into a problem.
The separate ownership also means future crossover content between Wuthering Waves and HoYoverse titles is extremely unlikely. Crossovers almost always happen between games owned by the same parent company, or between studios that have an official partnership. Since Kuro Games and HoYoverse are direct competitors in the gacha space, it’s almost impossible we’ll ever see Genshin Impact characters in Wuthering Waves or the other way around.
At the end of the day, the answer to does HoYoverse own Wuthering Waves is a clear no, and the game is fully the product of Kuro Games’ independent design team. The mix-up between the two studios is totally understandable given their similar genres and art styles, but knowing the difference helps you avoid scams, get the right support when you need it, and set accurate expectations for future content. Next time you see someone asking the same question in a community group or comment section, you’ll have all the facts to share, and you can even point out the key design differences that make Wuthering Waves stand out from HoYoverse’s library of games.