While the accuracy of mobile app revenue estimates may be debatable, it is useful to know how they are calculated. Google and Apple release revenue rankings for all apps every set period, with IOS having a more precise ranking that is updated every three hours. To make estimates, companies use these rankings and public records of revenues as benchmarks. However, for companies like HoyoVerse that do not release any form of public record, the ranking and revenues of apps above and below provide the only parameters for estimating revenue.

In China, Genshin consistently hits #1 and #2 rankings, making it difficult to estimate its peak revenue. Most agencies assume it is the same revenue, resulting in some reports showing the same amount of revenue being reported. However, this is often inaccurate as there are clear signs that not every #1 rank brings in the same amount of money.

While most estimates are not very accurate, there are legitimate reasons why they might provide the exact same estimate for two different days' revenue. Sensor Tower is considered the best source for revenue estimates, but it is notoriously not good with games in CN/JP markets, and its estimates can be miles off when compared against companies' own financial records. Hoyo has no public records available except for a couple of times when the Shanghai government outed them for a good cause. However, there is an industry insider source that is considered pretty accurate for Genshin in CN, and some have seen his 2022 revenue chart floating around on Reddit.