Genshin Impact is facing more accusations of cultural appropriation and whitewashing, and some of its voice actors are asking publisher HoYoverse to make changes.
The ever-expanding Genshin Impact universe features stories and locations seemingly inspired by the real world. Similarities range from the geography of in-game settings to architecture, mythology, music, food, and history in general. These connections have been extended to a new region, Natlan, which was revealed in a trailer released last week.
Fan outcry stems from what many feel is a failure to accurately represent the cultures each character pulls from, including the fact that Mavukia, Kinich, and Ororon — who seem to be inspired by real-life deities like the Maori's Mahuika — are all white. It continues a trend in Genshin Impact that has seen players begging for proper representation.
Now some of the actors behind Genshin Impact’s faces have begun to chime in. Albedo actor, Khoi Dao, published a statement on X/Twitter calling for change in Genshin Impact.
“If a game draws so heavily from real-world cultures and bases a character on the supreme deity of Yoruba religion, and that character ends up looking like pale Sasuke Batman, people are absolutely within their rights to demand better representation, ESPECIALLY when said game has a clearly-stated commitment to a *global* audience.”
Dao continued: "I hope y’all keeping make your voices heard, and I hope they listen."
Zeno Robinson, who voices the recently released Genshin Impact character Sethos, also called out HoYoverse, highlighting a worldwide desire for better representation.
“If even your base audience, the Chinese fans, are asking for better representation/or character with different shades of melanin, who are you making these characters for?” Robinson said.
Ọlọrun Is the supreme Yoruba deity. You could find that with a quick Google search, even.
— Valeria Rodríguez ? (@ElvisBadger) July 13, 2024
This is unforgivable. Look at what a sick job SMITE did with their own interpretation!!! IT’S NOT HARD!!! pic.twitter.com/LbP3nuT3MK
Sucrose actor Valeria Rodríguez brought more attention to the issue with a string of posts, too. One post compares Olorun’s appearance in Titan Forge Games’ MOBA title, Smite, to their appearance in Genshin Impact, saying, “Look at what a sick job SMITE did with their own interpretation!!! IT’S NOT HARD!!!”
"It shouldn’t be a radical desire to want to see yourself reflected in the media you consume," Yoimiya actress Jenny Yokobori said in her own post.
Natlan hasn’t been officially added to the Genshin Impact universe yet and has no release date. With there still time between now and its launch, Cyno actor Alejandro Saab took note of the complaints surrounding Ororon and put out a request to the HoYoverse team.
“I didn’t know THAT’S who he’s based on… AH that’s bad,” Saab said. “You still got time to fix it.”
there is so much beauty in the world—so many stories that can be told or drawn from, and when it’s not done to its full extent it ends up feeling disrespectful, even if that isn’t the intent. I hope it’s possible to make changes at this stage.
— Allegra Clark (@SimplyAllegra) July 13, 2024
Anne Yatco, who plays Genshin Impact’s Raiden Shogun, added, “I really hope that a video game company listens to its fanbase when valid criticism is made multiple years in a row about the execution of its research and inclusion of elements/aspects of other cultures.”
Genshin Impact released in 2020 and has continued to build on its foundation with new locations and characters in the years since. HoYoverse has yet to respond to calls for better representation or the BoycottHYV movement.
IGN has reached out for comment.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
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