Summary
TheGenshin Impactcommunity has united to criticize the game and developer HoYoverse for its continued lack of representation, following the reveal of the roster of upcoming Natlan characters, but the game should have been constantly and openly criticized since its launch back in 2020. After the reveal of the characters, most of which are white, players, fans, and even voice actors expressed their disappointment with the new units, mainly due to the fact that Natlan is based on South American and Western African countries and their respective cultures, and that theNatlan characters inGenshin Impactdon’t reflect that.
The community calls on the developer to make changes to the character design to more appropriately represent these cultures via the skin tone of the characters that embody them. The character Ororon, for instance, is based on the prime Yoruba deity, often represented as a black man – in the game, however, they are a white-skinned character with dark blue anime hair. Kinich, whose name comes from a Mayan sun god, is also a white character. These designs led to accusations that HoYoverse is whitewashing its characters inGenshin Impact, but the current outrage would have been valid at launch.
Genshin Impact Petition To Improve Representation Reaches 70K Signatures
Genshin Impact and the developer HoYoverse are being heavily criticized by the community following the reveal of the upcoming characters from Natlan.
HoYoverse Was Heavily Criticized When Sumeru Was Released In Genshin Impact
The Criticism, However, Did Not Last Long Before It Subsided
For context,the developer has been criticized before for the exact same reason. When Sumeru, a nation inspired by Sub-Saharan African, Middle Eastern, Southern and Southeastern Asian countries, was released, the region boasted a heavy absence of people of color.
This was met by a severe backlash, with HoYoverse accused of appropriating itself of these countries' cultural elements within music, architecture, naming, and more, without representing the types of people that live therein. Out of the 13Sumeru characters inGenshin Impact,only four of them have darker skin, and three of them have been accused of being whitewashed.
For reference, the Sumeru characters with darker skin compared to other playable units in the game are Cyno, Candace, Dehya, and Sethos – and Candace is the one with the relatively darker skin tone. Characters likeKaveh and Alhaitham, both of whom are inspired by prominent Iranian and Iraqi figures, respectively, are represented by white character models.
Tighnari, also inspired by an Arab person called Al-Tighnari, was adapted into a white character. These types of actions were criticized by the community, but the backlash subsided as new patches came out andGenshin Impactmoved into the Fontaine region.
Demands For Representation In Genshin Impact Based On Portrayed Cultures Is Valid
HoYoverse Has Dodged Criticism Since The Game’s Release
It is extremely valid to demand ethnic and racial representation, especially when a specific culture is being used to craft the world and the music around thembut the people that compose that culture are not reflected in the characters that help bring that world to life.
The argument that Sumeru and Natlan desperately need more diverse characters with varied skin tones than what is being offered should be heard by HoYoverse. However, this is a much deeper problem. The lack of representation has been an ongoing issue withGenshin Impactsince its release back in September 2020.
“Xinyan is a great example of a diverse character in the game.”
Out of its 22 playable characters made available with Version 1.0, only Kaeya has relatively darker skin compared to the rest of the ensemble. The characters from Mondstadt and Liyue were allegedly inspired by the people and cultures of Germany and China, andtherein lies the structural problem with representation in the game.
By dividing its Nations into areas inspired by real-life countries,the developer has managed to dodge criticism about diversity because these locations, statistically, have fewer people of color compared to those with lighter skintones. As members of theGenshin Impactcommunity, we hold some of the blame for our complacency.
Representation Does Not Need A Geographic Reason To Exist In Genshin Impact
The Game Caters To A Global Audience & Should Adequately Represent The People Of That Audience
Surely, people of color represented by characters in regions that take inspiration from countries where the majority of the people are not white is a great step forward. This action helps diminish the idea that the game is practicing cultural appropriation and, instead, practicing cultural and ethnic representation via not only world design but also character design. However, we should have been demanding increased character representation and diversity from the very start,regardless of which country the character’s nation inGenshin Impacttook inspiration from.
Representation is at its best when it is simply there, without having to rely on geographic argumentation to try to justify the very existence of characters of color, because people of color exist all over the world. HoYoverse did get one character right in this aspect with the release of Version 1.1, asXinyan is the perfect example of representation in the anime-styled game.
The 4-star Pyro character from Liyue has notably black skin that stands out among other characters. She is a Chinese-inspired character with dark skin andthere is no reasoning behind why she is black; she just is. This is the ideal way to increase diversity in games.
I’ve Been Playing Genshin Impact Since Launch & Can No Longer Recommend It
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Relying solely on the valid argumentation that ethnic representation should happen whenever a certain culture or country is being portrayed is a way of giving the company a free pass to continue not creating racially diverse characters –the criticism of the game’s lack of diversity should extend beyond Natlan and Sumeruand reach every other nation of Teyvat that has been released and Snezhnaya in the future.Genshin Impactwas released by HoYoverse with the intent of reaching a global audience and its success is proof that it did.
Of nearly 90 playable characters at the moment, only five of them have darker skin tones (all of which have been mentioned by name in this article).
With a global audience, a larger portion of the roster should also be global, unattached to the outdated idea that there are no people of color in certain regions of the world. The push toward representation in Natlan is necessary andthe calls for a boycott until HoYoverse takes significant action toward diversity may actually be the best way of achieving this. However, the community’s work can’t stop there.
Even if the entire Natlan roster is tweaked for representation – which is likely not going to be the case –there will still be a major discrepancy between the number of white characters and characters of other ethnic profiles in the game. Additionally, several Sumeru characters also deserve proper design tweaks to reflect who they were inspired by.
We knowHoYoverse is capable of reading player feedback and acting according to the players’ requests. With therelease ofGenshin Impact4.8, for instance, Neuvillette’s rotation speed during his Charged Attack was nerfed, as acknowledged by the company in a post on the officialGenshin Impactaccount on X (formerly Twitter). Following intense player feedback and criticism of the nerf, the company took immediate action on the same day the patch arrived, telling players the nerf would be rolled back in an upcoming update and that they would be offered compensation in the form of Primogems.
It is disappointing that HoYoverse has not yet even acknowledged the petition with dozens of thousands of signatures asking for increased representation in the game onChange.org. Hopefully,if we remain vocal about our desire for true representation and the end of gratuitous cultural appropriation in the game, HoYoverse will take note– that is, in fact, the reason for the boycott.
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As the game moves forward, our hope is that HoYoverse learns its lesson and starts broadening its mindset, bringing forth characters inspired by the various people of the world, for the various people of the world – and maybe even correcting mistakes of the past. Despite the fact that we are heading into the game’s sixth major nation out of the seven of Teyvat, there is still a lot of ground to cover in the campaign and that means years of content whereGenshin Impactcan improve, both in terms of gameplay and adequate representation of its dedicated player base.
Source:X/Genshin Impact,Change.org
Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact is an online, open-world, action RPG from the creators of Honkai 3rd Impact. In the game, players assume the role of the Traveller, a powerful being separated from their sibling during an intense battle. Stricken with amnesia and lost in a new world, players will guide their hero with the help of their new companion, Paimon, through the world of Teyvat.
