#boycott genshin impact

[lampiche]

Hey uh I just need to make a quick post about Natlan because I am enraged.

I didn't watch the livestream, but I've seen enough infos to know that Hoyoverse is trying to break the boycott up. A free standard 5 stars for the anniversary??? Quality of life updates that we've been asking for since early game??? You've got to be fucking kidding me.

For those of you that still don't get it, Hoyoverse is trying to bribe us.

Do not stop the boycott because they decided to be generous. I repeat, DO NOT STOP THE BOYCOTT BECAUSE HOYOVERSE IS BEING GENEROUS. They're purposefully doing this in the hopes that we'll stop calling them out on their blatant colorism and racism.

I know the trailer looks cool. (I haven't actually seen it but meh.) I know there's Capitano, and he's a much awaited character. But remember, the Natlan archon is still white. She's based off a Polynesian goddess and she's dressed like a biker girl.

I'd also like to point out something about the standard 5 stars. Two of them are Sumeru characters, based off real people, and completely whitewashed (and sexualised in Dehya's case). Also, they were the only characters added to the standard pool since the beginning of the game. And yes, I know the Inazuma argument (Inazuma is closed off so it's more difficult to level up characters for early players), but what about Fontaine? Why didn't Hoyoverse add Fontaine characters to the standard pool? Why did Hoyoverse give Dehya, a much awaited character even by the Chinese players, a shit-ass kit? Why did Hoyoverse add Tighnari, the first Dendro 5 stars character and first banner character of Sumeru, to the standard pool?

The free 5 stars character should not be celebrated. It's a pathetic bribe, and a reminder that Hoyoverse is colorist as fuck.

It started with Sumeru, and it won't stop in Natlan if we just accept their little gifts. If they're doing this, it means they're worried about the boycott. I say it's a good enough reason to continue doing it.

So remember, don't spend on Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, Honkai Impact 3rd, Tears of Themis, and Zenless Zone Zero. It's all the same company, so we can hit them where it hurts multiple times.

As for me, I'll stop posting Genshin or HSR related stuff while I boycott. There's no reason to promote this game if I want to show everyone its flaws.

[diot05]

Most Genshin Impact fans are racist and it shows.

As a Brazilian person, i was INCREDIBLY hyped for Natlan. Not only because of the mystery and lore, or the fact my favorite Harbinger would show up there. But also because Brazil and South America in general are often depicted as just the Amazon Rainforest and ig a bit of Mexican stereotypes because no one who uses stereotypes bothers to research anything.

And to open up the trailer just to see these bland, uninspired, downright ugly designs? It kinda broke my heart. And then i noticed the elephant in the room, the thing that reminded me that no one cares about us unless they're one of us. The fact these characters are as white as the fucking sun. And to see people treat those fighting against it like whiny nitpickers? It made me lose what little faith i had in this game as a whole. My expectations are now EXTREMELY low for Natlan, and honestly if they don't outright do a colonizer apologist storyline i'll be extremely surprised, because the bare minimum level of respect is clearly not the expected norm for this game.

And don't you dare even considering playing the "Oh but it's a chinese company!!" card, because they've proven VERY capable of designing and writing amazing black characters through Jeht, who's one of the most beloved NPCs in the game. If they WANTED to make any character black, they could. They just choose not to because it'll piss off the majority of the fandom. The racist, narrow-minded assholes who care about no culture but their own.

[k1ttygam3r]

Before anyone asks (considering Genshin is highlighted in my fandom list, meaning it’s a current hyperfixation), yes. I am aware of the Natlan controversy and its egregious colorism. And no, I do not support it in the slightest.

I joined relatively late in the game’s lifespan, joining the fandom around Sumeru’s release. Due to everything concerning that region, I made an oath to never buy anything from the game. To this day, I’ve never went back on my word, and this recent update made me glad I didn’t.

While I can still find enjoyment in the game itself, it’s incredibly disappointing to see the colorism in Natlan. It’s especially disheartening to realize that if they cared enough, this could’ve been actually decent if they abandoned their racist tendencies.

In my opinion, seeing something bad that could’ve been good is heaps worse than seeing something bad that’s always been bad. Thinking about a “what could’ve been” that’s better than the “what is” just hurts me on a whole different level, you know?

Because of this, I’m choosing to stay away from discussions about this particular subject for the sake of my mental well-being.

However, that doesn’t mean that you should simply ignore this situation. This is a problem that has gone on for far too long, and has only gotten worse over time.

But enough of my yapping. I’m white, I’m not of the people that have been hurt by this racism. I don’t think it’s my place to speak of this in any more detail.

If you want more info of how to boycott HoYoVerse, I suggest you take a look at @hyvboycott and especially their pinned post.

Do what you can. Let HYV know that they won’t get away with this.

[princealberich]

HOW DO I COMPLAIN TO HOYOVERSE?

It's easy, and there are MULTIPLE things you can do! I recommend doing each item on this list.

1. SIGN & SHARE THE PETITION

The petition will be delivered to the appropriate cultural reps, in order to complain to the CCP about the negative impression this is leaving on Chinese companies. Genshin Impact is highly favoured by the government for the positive press it gives the country, and putting pressure on the 'big daddy' is FAR more likely to make Hoyoverse buckle.

As of right now, the petition has nearly 38k signatures.

2. EMAIL HOYOVERSE

Email them directly at genshin_cs@hoyoverse.com to state how this has affected your desire to continue playing their games.

3. USE THE IN-GAME SURVEY OR FEEDBACK

Genshin Impact has frequent update surveys, and there is a permanent option to give feedback at any time. You can find it in the Paimon Menu.

4. REVIEW BOMB

Rate Hoyoverse's games, particularly Genshin, with one star on the app store. This has already proven in the past to have an effect, when this caused the team to review the anniversary rewards.

Here is a guide on how to do this!

5. POST IN OFFICIAL HOYOVERSE ACCOUNTS' COMMENTS

Do not be silent! Speak up about your displeasure. It's important that these comments outweigh the rest! Show that we are the MAJORITY.

6. SPEAK UP

Use the tags!

#BoycottHYV #WhyAreTheyWhiteHoyo #GenshinImpact #FixNatlan

Be relentless.

FURTHER DETAILS UNDER THE CUT!

WHAT SHOULD I NOT DO?

The following actions should NOT be taken:

DO NOT spend money on Hoyoverse games.

DO NOT sent threats, to voice actors OR customer service staff.

DO NOT engage with trolls or racists. Block and report.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

It's easy to dismiss this in the face of 'more important' issues in the world at the moment, but Genshin Impact (And by extension, Hoyoverse) is a very influential game and company. It is extremely popular, and directly influences MANY other games and players through this popularity.

This isn't an issue of 'just stop playing'- This is not anger for a game's decisions, it's anger for a precedent. It's a demand that not only should Hoyoverse care about representation, but other, smaller, companies too. If Hoyoverse can get away with it, so can others- But if Hoyoverse is held accountable for their exploitation of culture, then it sets the precedent that other companies have no chance of doing the same.

Like it or not, Hoyoverse has a lot of influence, and the CCP itself values the company for giving China a positive image in other countries. This is bigger than just being mad at character design.

EDIT: It was also pointed out to me that if POC were to simply stop engaging with hostile content, they would have nothing left. 'Just stop playing' isn't fair, plain and simple. POC deserve to play the things that they enjoy WITHOUT being ostracized.

DOES HOYOVERSE LISTEN?

They listen if there's no money lining their pockets, they listen if their reputation is damaged, and they listen if the CCP gets involved. We have direct evidence of this.

Review bombing alone caused Hoyoverse to reconsider the first anniversary rewards.

The CCP forced Hoyoverse to reskin various characters to comply with their laws, which HYV did. (This isn't necessarily a good thing, however, it is still evidence that CCP has influence over them.)

This is by far the largest outcry the company has seen so far, and MANY of HYV's voice actors have spoken out in support for the movement as well. This is not just playerbase complaints, but staff, too.

I recommend following AvenOfStrats on X/Twitter for further updates on the petition's progress, and on other ways to contribute. They also share plenty of resources on why this is important, and guides on how to complain.

[rice-fae]

Boycott hoyoverse, please.

I used to be a big genshin impact lore buff, i played, i read, i was on forums, i made fanart, and then i was deeply disrespected by the game itself (this post is about natlan)

I am brazilian and i follow a religion named candomblé. Long story short, its from yoruba people who were sent to brazil as slaves, then went through a big process of spreading out to not just black people, but light-skinned people of lower classes like my family. We believe in the creation by Olorum, the power of Axé, and the Orixás.

Natlan, as of now, has two characters named Iansan and Ororon. These names come from not just the yoruba predecessors of candomblé, but also the religion itself, the Orixá deities Iansã and Olorum.

My religion, my deities. My mother's deities. The statuettes in my house. Their names are recycled cheaply to be used trivially. Never have we of candomblé ever gotten mentioned by AAA games or films that give such attention to detail like Genshin does, and we are disrespected. Our Gods are used like rags for someone's profit to be thrown away, washed out. They do not convey our beauty, our grit, our wonder, they do not convey us but they profit from us.

People love to tell us that it is just a game, but think again: games are not entitled to disrespect us just because of their nature. We are entitled to complain, to scream, because this is cruelty. You brutalize our image, butcher our names, for what?

When I was younger, I used to look at games with religious imagery very curiously. It was always weird to see the faith of the people I know be used for aesthetic reasons or just because it looks cool. The same has now happened to me, but times worse. People will say anything to justify this mockery and throw excuses to keep playing the product of a corporation that won't ever understand what it means to be us.

Boycott, complain, scream, because I will do it too. I regret the time I invested in playing, in reading, in watching, in dedicating myself to something that would never do me justice. It is not expensive to change a character's name, not even talking about the model. I don't plan on re-entering the fandom while it still lies unaware of the gross source material's true colors. Candomblé is not mythology, it's faith. We are alive. We have existed for centuries and will continue to grow, despite the challenges we face.

[iodrawsandtalks]

communicating something i thought was very obvious. Hoyoverse are Zionist benefactors.

- a benefactor is somebody who can pay money to support brands. If you pay a benefactor they can pay boycotted brands to compensate for monetary losses.

Hard to balance handling social media and people with 0 cares for your mental health but this is something that has to be confronted. Yeah, the CEO hasnt said they love Israel or anything, but I’ve gotten sick of them announcing collaborations with Zionists despite making billions of dollars that could save billions of people. And then twitter activists cheering them on. Never mind their pro colonization rhetoric found in two of their games. I digress.

not pictured:

I know SO MANY people love their games but lets be a little more guarding of where our money goes.

Maybe pick up fishing if you need some game to calm yourself. Go fish. Especially the invasive ones.

[glasscereal]

Citlali redesign cuz as a Mexican with a passion for prehispanic cultures im disappointed LMAO

[yuamin]

HOYOVERSE YOU’VE STARTED AGAIN.

[the-fandom-crossroads]

Mihoyo is ignoring Boycotters and aiming for Return Players instead!

Mihoyo's marketing strategy is extremely obvious after that livestream and it's really demoralizing to see so many fall for it. Every X.0 update they add a bunch of QoL features fans have been asking for for years. (Pick your own 5 star, artifact recycling, picking artifact sub stats) Their aim is to get fans that have dropped off during previous patches to come back.

They have been ignoring those "boycotting" because they anticipate the return players to out number the boycotting ones. Also if you are still logging and playing daily you aren't boycotting in their eyes. Playtime and daily login numbers are what they care about when it comes to f2p players. Unless you are a whale going from 1,000s of dollars a patch to zero dollars you "going f2p" isn't going to hurt their bottom line. They want a large number of active users along with a few whales.

If you still care about showing Mihoyo you care about their colorism you can NOT download and play 5.0 day one. You need to actually boycott by giving mihoyo low player numbers for a X.0 patch.

We still haven't seen 3 of Natlan's tribes yet! They changed an NPC's skin tone already. We can still push them to correct with the other tribes! BUT YOU HAVE TO BOYCOTT!

If 5.0 has higher login numbers than Sumeru Mihoyo will feel like they have no reason to listen to the boycotters because they regained fans from other areas or pulled in new players. I'm not saying you have to Quit genshin forever. Just hold off on playing the Natlan update for a few weeks. Watch a youtuber's play through of the Archon quest if you can't wait for the story.

And please convince your friends who have seen the 5.0 news but haven't been keeping up with Genshin to wait before coming back. Plenty of players stopped playing after 4.3 because that's when the Fontaine Archon Quest ended. Those players need to be informed of the white washing and convinced to not come back for 5.0. Those are the players Mihoyo is "listening to feed back" from with it comes to the QoL updates. Why do you think people who haven't logged in in over 45 days are getting another 10 free pulls? Because those are the players they are aiming for. If those players say no we aren't coming back to pull for white washed characters Mihoyo is more likely to listen to the criticism.

Candace wasn't in the Sumeru trailers and Sethos was added after we left Sumeru. There is still time for them to add POC playable characters to Natlan. We still haven't seen Vanessa's tribe. PLEASE KEEP PUSHING! IT IS WORKING SO DON'T STOP NOW!

[bleghtoaster]

idk I think they're neat ᐠ( ᐛ )ᐟ

[stefastral-dusk]

Man I'm so glad to see hoyoverse representing Meso America, Latin America, Africa, Maori and so much more with their upcoming region of Natlan 😍

[diot05]

Genshin is the McDonald's of gaming

It's morally bankrupt, cheap and geared towards the lowest common denominator(generic anime fans)

[hyvboycott]

With upcoming release of Natlan, this serves as a reminder of how the characters were made pale to uphold colorist beliefs

[almond-tofu-chan]

op turned off reblogs but. this.

[rice-fae]

do you think that sumeru is just as bad as natlan? i was so upset when people stopped talking about it

Sumeru is bad. It's pretty, I'll give it that, it was my favourite nation when I used to play the game (I mained Faruzan), but it has its sum of terrible things

I don't know much about the source material, aka the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. My post was about Natlan because if there's something I know about is my homeland.

I regret overlooking the signs hyv gave us of its racism early on, in 3.0. Seeing the Natlan trailers and leaks really opened my eyes on how I was being the kind of person that doesn't speak up on bad things when they happened to others. I don't wish that upon anyone. I hope we can have our eyes open for other games showing these signs in the future.

I won't "rank" that kind of thing because 1. I know next to nothing about Sumeru's source material (except for my share of self study in it's pattern art history) and 2. Natlan is not out as of now. I think it's bad, but I don't actually know much beyond the whitewashing.

I hope Hoyoverse didn't use their Gods' names similarly with how they dis to us, yoruba and candomblé. I can't remember. All my love to my brothers and sisters around the world, in those places!

Thank you for the ask!

[palmtreepwr]

oh hoyo ur ended i fear