The money you spend on games doesn’t typically benefit society — particularly when that money is spent on new virtual outfits for anime girls (sometimes affectionately called ‘waifus’). But in one particular case, the two go hand in hand… Somehow.

It all starts with a game called Genshin Impact. Genshin is a wildly popular free-to-play action RPG that has millions of players. It also has vibrant anime-inspired aesthetics and expansive open-world gameplay. The game features a “gatcha” system, allowing players to collect a diverse roster of characters, each with unique abilities and elemental powers. You can also get different outfits for the characters, and that’s basically how miHoYo, the company behind Genshin, is making money.

But miHoYo also has different plans. A couple of years ago, the company invested in a fusion project research — and now, the company’s first reactor has been turned on.

The potential of nuclear fusion

Fusion energy is incredibly exciting because it promises a nearly limitless and environmentally friendly power source, mimicking the processes that fuel the sun. Unlike nuclear fission reactors (our current nuclear energy), fusion produces minimal radioactive waste and poses no risk of catastrophic meltdowns.

It harnesses abundant fuels, like hydrogen isotopes from water, and releases vast amounts of energy by merging atomic nuclei. Only helium and a bit of fairly harmless radiation are produced as byproducts. If perfected, fusion energy could revolutionize global power generation, providing a sustainable solution to our growing energy needs while drastically reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change.

The promise of fusion energy is civilization-changing, but there’s a problem: it’s enormously difficult to achieve. For decades, researchers have been working on the technology. Progress has been slow, but there’s definite progress — and this progress prompts more companies to invest in the technology.

In early 2022, miHoYo and Chinese car manufacturer Nio invested almost $70 million in an initiative working on fusion energy and associated technologies. Now, the company’s first tokamak has been started.

What’s a tokamak?

Tokamak reactors are sophisticated fusion devices designed to replicate the sun’s energy production process by confining and superheating plasma within a doughnut-shaped chamber using powerful magnetic fields. It’s not the only fusion technology being researched, but it’s one of the most promising.

The magnetic fields are crucial in maintaining the stability of the superheated plasma, which reaches temperatures over ten times hotter than the sun’s core, allowing atomic nuclei to collide and fuse. This fusion process releases a tremendous amount of energy, which can be harnessed to generate electricity.

Unlike traditional nuclear reactors, tokamaks produce minimal radioactive waste and pose no risk of meltdown, making them a highly promising solution for sustainable and nearly limitless energy. If successfully developed, tokamak reactors could revolutionize energy production, offering a clean and virtually inexhaustible power source.

It’s not that this is miHoYo’s project, but the company is a major investor in the technology — and the company probably made a lot of the money it invested from dream girls from the anime world.

From waifus to world-changing energy

The journey from virtual anime characters to fueling groundbreaking scientific advancements might seem improbable, but miHoYo’s venture into fusion energy demonstrates the unexpected intersections between entertainment and innovation. In the modern world, funding sources are often unpredictable, and companies are eager to diversify their portfolios; when it comes to something as promising as fusion technology, we need as much of that as possible.

That’s not all miHoYo is investing in. In March 2021, miHoYo developed a strategic partnership with Ruijin Hospital to establish the Ruijin-miHoYo Laboratory, a joint effort focused on brain-computer interface technology research. The lab’s initial project targets the treatment of depression with brain-computer interfaces.

Two years later, in 2023, the company also participated in a funding round for Oriental Space Technology — a company focused on the development of a launch vehicle and a reusable liquid oxygen and kerosene rocket engine.

Genshin isn’t miHoYo’s only project, but it’s by far the most successful. The company is valued at over $20 billion and consistently rakes in over $1 billion in annual profits.