Genshin Backlash Cause Devs to Feel Defeated and "Useless"

HoYoverse president Liu Wei has recently opened up about the toll that harsh fan feedback has taken on the Genshin Impact dev team over the past year. Read on for more about his comments and the tumultuous period the game has experienced.

Genshin Devs Felt Defeated and Disheartened Following Continuous Negative Feedback from FansTeam Remains Committed to Improving Genshin and Listening to Fans

(c) SentientBamboo

HoYoverse Chief Executive Officer Liu Wei recently shared his insights on the "dismay and perplexity" that unfavorable fan sentiment has had on the Genshin Impact development team over the past year. Speaking at a recent event in Shanghai, Wei addressed the situation after a turbulent period of increasing discontent among its player base, especially around the Lunar New Year 2024 and subsequent updates.

During his speech, which was recorded and translated by the YouTube channel SentientBamboo, Liu expressed how the vehement criticism from fans had profoundly adversely affected the team. "Over the past year, both the Genshin team and I experienced a lot of distress and bewilderment," he said. "We genuinely felt like we endured some truly challenging times. We encountered a barrage of clamor, and some of it was exceptionally harsh, leaving our entire project team feeling utterly worthless."

The company president's statements came on the heels of a series of controversies surrounding Genshin Impact's recent updates, including the 4.4 Lantern Rite event. Fans were disappointed by the event rewards, particularly with the fact that they received only three intertwined fates for the Lantern Rite event, which fans viewed as inadequate and lackluster.

Many players expressed how frustrated they have gotten by the perceived lack of exciting and sufficient updates compared to other HoYoverse titles like Honkai: Star Rail, leading to a flood of negative bombing reviews and backlash. On the other hand, Kuro Games' latest RPG title, Wuthering Waves, has also been a reference point of contention among fans, with criticisms targeting the discrepancy between both games' gameplay and character movement options.

The player base's frustrations escalated further with Genshin's 4.5 Chronicled Banner, which featured gacha mechanics that many fans found unfavorable compared to the game's more traditional Event Banners. The overall direction of the game also drew criticism, particularly from enclaves of players who felt that characters inspired by real-life cultures were being "whitewashed" or misrepresented.

Wei appeared visibly emotional during his address, but still took the time to acknowledge these concerns. "Some people felt that our project team was really arrogant, saying that they don’t listen to anything," he said. "But it’s like [presenter] Aquaria said – we’re actually the same as everyone, we are also gamers. We all feel things other people feel too. We simply heard too much noise. We needed to calm down and discern the true voices of the Travelers."

Despite the challenges, Liu expressed hope for the game's future and its fans, promising that the team remains committed to improving the game and listening to its player community. "I know, even today, we still can't meet everyone's expectations. But after the anxiety and confusion the team and I experienced over the past year, I feel we also received a lot of courage and trust from our Travelers. So from now on, after I leave the stage, I hope that the entire Genshin team along with all the Genshin players can stop weighing on their pasts and whole-heartedly create the best experience."

In other related news, a preview teaser for Natlan had just been recently uploaded on the game's official account, unveiling first-looks of the game's new region. Natlan will be released soon, on August 28.