Genshin Impact Faces Backlash from Chinese Fans for Poor New Year Rewards

Genshin Impact has millions of fans, dedicated and passionate. Naturally, love can quickly turn into hate if it's not reciprocated, and this is what happened after the developer miHoYo announced the rewards for Lantern Rite, an event held in celebration of Chinese New Year.

The prizes in version 4.4 of the game offer three Intertwined Fates, a material used for finishing out characters from the gacha system. Saying that Chinese players were disappointed would be a huge understatement. So powerful was their rage that Genshin Impact's official Douyin (TikTok) account lost almost a million followers, dropping from 9.35 million to 8.41 million. 

To get their point across for sure, the fans have also started review-bombing the game, so its ratings keep going down, all because the developers failed to celebrate their players and give them some virtual pixels.

The game's BiliBili (a popular video-sharing website) account also lost a lot of subscribers. However, some netizens noticed that the number went up thanks to some suspicious accounts with similar names, so it looks like miHoYo is not above buying bots.

What's more, even the game's partners, like KFC, Pizza Hut, and Hey Tea, suffered damages by losing followers on their social media.

What makes the situation worse is that while Lantern Rite rewards also include a free character skin selector if you purchase a new PS5, miHoYo's other game, Honkai: Star Rail, gives away a five-star character. 

This is not the first time Genshin Impact fans aren't happy with their lot. The same frustration happens every year, and even when Genshin Impact won The Game Awards' Players' Voice, they received 800 Primogems (for those who don't play the game: it's not a lot considering the effort players poured into the process.)

Such a hugely successful game is bound to have a sizeable impact, so miHoYo's unwillingness to share gifts is questionable. Although it's clear what the goal is: I'm sure money plays a role here.

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