by Nyneishia Gupta

Genshin Impact is an action role playing RPG that has grown quickly since its release in 2020, winning numerous awards such as the Apples 2020 iPhone Game of the Year and most recently won the Best Visual and Graphics at the 2021 Apple Design Awards. The game was developed by MiHoYo, a company that is also the developer of Honkai Impact- another popular game. As Genshin crossed its 1 year anniversary on September 28th, players look back at the development and look forward to possible rewards.

The story follows a pair of twins who have been separated in the unknown land of Tevyat and the search for the unknown god. Each update since the beginning has added a new part to the archon quest or a side storyline about the Abyss Order. Each update also comes with events which reward primogems- the in-game currency used to wish for characters. If you want to avoid spending money, you can gain primogems from daily commissions, quests, chests, and events. 

There has been lots of discussion regarding the rewards that MiHoYo gave to its player base for the anniversary. When the game was first released there were rewards totaling to 30 fates(bought with 160 primogems to wish for characters)- each bought with primogems and used to wish for characters following gacha format. Because of the launch rewards, fans were expecting some similar rewards for the 1 year anniversary, however they were greatly disappointed. The initial rewards totaled to 10 fates. These were guaranteed for any player at the time of the anniversary. They also hosted a competition for artists of all genres to promote Genshin Impact, with a 10% chance of winning a welkin moon- a helpful blessing in the game. This caused more outrage as fans saw this as an attempt to use artists and exploit them for free promotion. Upon seeing all the outrage at the pitiful rewards, MiHoYo repurposed a set that was supposed to be available to players willing to spend real money. They used the same items available in the set and gave them 10 more fates as a last ditch effort to save their reputation. These rewards were given 2 days after the anniversary.

Now, a few weeks after the anniversary – what are players’ reactions? It is painfully obvious that the extra rewards were unplanned and purely meant to be a saving grace. Many fans are still quite angry with the company and have greatly lowered their hopes for future content and rewards but the majority have decided to just move on and continue playing the game for the fun of it. MiHoYo managed to salvage their reputation for now, but this is an incident that won’t easily be forgotten.