State of Genshin Impact

Ever since its release on September 28, 2020, “Genshin Impact” has enjoyed accelerated popularity and growth as it catches the attention of gamers across the globe. As a multi-platform open-world gacha role-playing game, Genshin has evolved and transformed since its inception. Quickly amassing a large fandom, and generating lots of money. Not only has the game added many new characters, quests, and mechanics, but it has also welcomed its third region, Inazuma. As its first anniversary comes and goes, one can only wonder what the state of “Genshin Impact” is.
After starting out with 21 playable characters, two regions, and a plethora of quests, Genshin now has 41 characters with it welcoming its newest character, Sangonomiya Kokomi, and a new region, Inazuma, which was introduced in update 2.0. Testament to Genshin’s growth and popularity, its 2.1 update generated $151 million in its first seven days of going live, which is more than the game accumulated during its first month of release. The game’s growth over the course of the year is stunning, but how has the game’s community grown?
“Genshin Impact” is supported by a large community, with servers in Asia, Europe, and North America. The Chinese community spends the most money on Genshin with their love for mobile games. But ever since release problems have arisen in the community, game developer MiHoyo seemingly loses the respect of their fanbase.
On September 28, 2021, the day of Genshin’s anniversary, players took to social media to voice their concerns causing “Genshin Impact ”, and MiHoyo, to trend on Twitter. Players voiced their frustration on the official “Genshin Impact ” Discord by spamming Qiqi icons. All of this is because, during Genshin’s Anniversary, many players were expecting large rewards to celebrate the occasion. Instead, players received fewer rewards than in previously big events. Players have taken to social media to complain, as they’re not getting any rewards of real significance. This situation makes people wonder if MiHoyo even cares about their community and if players should continue to support the game. Since the game has raked over a billion dollars since its launch, why couldn’t it treat its players for their support?
Mix this frustration with burnouts, and boredom from lack of endgame content, players are considering dropping the game.
While rewards are the main cause of complaint, the lack of care is the cherry on top. Gacha games’ anniversaries, especially first anniversaries, are incredibly important as they commemorate the growth of the game and celebrate players’ loyalty. Genshin players don’t feel joy, nor do they feel appreciated. They simply feel like it’s a normal event and not a once-a-year occasion. This anger and frustration at the game isn’t felt by all players though. Not only that, but a lackluster anniversary doesn’t erase aspects Genshin has improved and excelled in.
Genshin ended the summer of 2021 with a bang, bringing back old players with its Inazuma release and new characters along with it, new characters, enemies, and quests for players to enjoy while presenting players new areas to explore and puzzles to solve. Seemingly reminding burnt-out and bored players what Genshin is good at, crafting great open-world experiences. Of course, in spite of Genshin’s great aspects, there are also some glaring missteps.
Its lack of endgame content continues to disappoint players, as more and more reach higher adventure ranks. They’re greeted with little to do except wait for events, complete daily commissions, and use resin. Another thing that plagues a lot of areas in the game is its RNG (random number generation). Most players find it completely unnecessary, especially when it comes to the multiple layers of RNG involved with Artifact Farming,
While Genshin has some less than enjoyable factors, many players still love the game. One can’t say for certain if the game has fallen off since release, it definitely has gone through challenges in the past year. One can only wonder what the future holds for their breakout game of 2020. As of now, I can confidently say the state of “Genshin Impact” is steady, and outstanding in some aspects, while lacking in others.