(Yicai) Sept. 19 -- MiHoYo, the Chinese firm behind the popular action role-playing game Genshin Impact, has appointed a different co-founder as chairman and has reduced its registered capital, according to the latest data.

Liu Wei has replaced Cai Haoyu as chairman and legal representative of miHoYo, according to corporate information provider Tianyancha. And the Shanghai-based firm has trimmed its registered capital to CNY317 million (USD43.4 million) from CNY334 million.

“The division of duties of the firm’s co-founders does not change,” miHoYo told Yicai. “Liu will continue to oversee the firm’s management, and Cai will focus on the research and application of cutting-edge technologies, development of new projects, and integration of domestic and overseas research and development resources.”

There is also a third co-founder called Luo Yuhao and the trio set up the company in 2011.

No reasons were given as to why the registered capital, which is a marker of the firm’s value, was reduced. MiHoYo is not a listed company.

Cai remains the firm’s largest shareholder with a 41 percent stake, followed by Liu with 22.6 percent and Luo with 21.4 percent, according to Tianyancha. Hangzhou Miyi Investment is the fourth biggest stakeholder with 15 percent equity.

Certainly miHoYo is a profitable business. The firm raked in net profit of CNY16.1 billion (USD2.3 billion) last year, according to figures published by Guangming Daily in June. It had net assets of CNY37.4 billion as of the end of last year.

And it is one of the highest earners in the industry, logging revenue of CNY27.3 billion (USD3.7 billion) from gaming last year, around one sixth that of Tencent Holdings and one third that of NetEase, the report said.

The mobile version of Genshin Impact has bagged over USD4 billion in earnings since it was released in September 2020, according to data published by Sensor Tower in January. This includes CNY1.4 billion (USD192 million) from China, USD960 million from Japan and USD860 million from the US.

Editor: Kim Taylor