Genshin Impact developer miHoYo is under fire right now from fans concerning the game's misrepresentation of people groups and other social issues. #boycottgenshin began trending yesterday, with fans pointing out certain character interactions in Genshin Impact as evidence of miHoYo's mishandling of race and representation. Although the thread is now a mix of gamers still pushing for the boycott and others claiming Genshin Impact fans are overreacting, there are a few key arguments that help explain why both #boycottgenshin and miHoYo are currently trending on Twitter.
Genshin Impact is no stranger to controversy, but it has often been centered on the game's gacha system rather than its characters. One of the first games accused of being a Breath of the Wild clone, Genshin Impact quickly distinguished itself with tons of playable characters and complex action-RPG combat that caused many gamers to initially ignore issues with the gacha system. Complaints about drop rates and online security have never completely gone away and they've resurfaced with this new hashtag, but many gamers don't want gacha issues to detract from #boycottgenshin's core argument.
To help explain the reasons behind the hashtag, several Genshin Impact fans have shared short essays detailing the biggest perceived issues with the game. One of these involves the Hilichurls, creatures in Genshin Impact that the game describes as "primitive humanoid monsters." A host of fans have pointed out similarities of the Hilichurls to real indigenous peoples and feel that their representation is disrespectful toward indigenous cultures and demonizes them.
Another accusation is that of colorism. Two playable characters in Genshin Impact, Kaeya and Xinyan, are chosen to represent this argument. Both have darker skin tones, and there is in-game text and dialogue conversations between other characters that ostracize Kaeya and Xinyan based on their skin color. As for the accused pedophilia, an adult NPC, Ulfr, is apparently in love with a young child, Flora, and there is no indication in Genshin Impact that the relationship is troublesome. Both accusations of colorism and pedophilia have been refuted by other fans but the dialogue is still ongoing.
On top of the other accusations, many fans feel that Genshin Impact is guilty of cultural appropriation by mixing culture inspirations for certain areas of the game. The unreleased area Sumeru is cited frequently as an example of this, with some saying that its apparent mix of Indian and Middle Eastern cultures doesn't make sense and further perpetuates misunderstanding of those people groups. There's a lot going on in the #boycottgenshin thread, with dissenting opinions and unsavory tweets attempting to hijack the conversation. But like arguments concerning Genshin Impact leaks, there is plenty of opinion to sift through and interested parties may just learn something about the game or find a position that matches their own.
Genshin Impact is available now on PC, Mobile, and PS4, and is currently in development for PS5 and Switch.