Know about the Genshin Impact New Year rewards drama controversy
The recently announced rewards for the upcoming version 4.4 of Genshin Impact, celebrating the fourth Lantern Rite Festival, have sparked discontent among fans in China.
Officials revealed that only three Intertwined Fates will be given away for this year’s Chinese New Year event, leading to disappointment and frustration among players.
Why are Chinese players cancelling Genshin Impact and New Year Lantern Rite Festival rewards controversy drama explained
Genshin's Douyin account has lost more than a million followers today.
Chinese players were dissatisfied with the Chinese New Year rewards, after which a “strike” began. Apart from Douyin, people are also unfollowing them from other social networks. #GenshinImpact #原神 pic.twitter.com/hiATRiVo7P
— Genshin Universe (@GenshinUniverse) January 21, 2024
This dissatisfaction mirrors a previous incident during the game’s first anniversary when HoYoverse provided only 10 Intertwined Fates, which was deemed insufficient by the player community.
Despite the game’s three-year active presence, fans in China believe that the rewards for the Lantern Rite Festival have not evolved, prompting a negative response.
This discontent manifested in a review bombing of Genshin Impact on BiliBili, resulting in an influx of 1-star ratings surpassing the 5-star ratings.
The discontent is reminiscent of the first-anniversary scenario, reflecting the persistent dissatisfaction with the rewards offered by HoYoverse.
Chinese Fans Unfollowed Game’s Douyin Account
The displeasure of Chinese fans extended beyond review bombing, with a mass unfollowing spree on the game’s official Douyin account. Within a day, over a million followers were lost, dropping from 9.6 million to slightly over eight million.
Genshin Impact's Douyin (CN TikTok) just lost millions of followers due to a riot by the Chinese community regarding the Chinese New Year rewards which triggered a strike leading to unfollows across all CN social media and review bombing pic.twitter.com/NLxjwkOBW5
— Genshin Impact Memes (@GenshinImpactOC) January 22, 2024
The Chinese community voiced accusations of preferential treatment towards global servers, alleging that better rewards were being distributed to global players.
This dissatisfaction further led to widespread unfollowing on other social media platforms, including Weibo and BiliBili.
Fans Initiated Mass Unfollowing of Companies
In an additional move, fans in China initiated a mass unfollowing of companies collaborating with Genshin Impact, such as KFC, Pizza Hut, and Hey Tea. HoYoverse faced allegations of artificially inflating its follower count on BiliBili by purchasing Zombie accounts.
Examples presented on @hxg_diluc’s post demonstrated these accounts with usernames containing “bili” and random numbers, exclusively following Genshin Impact. In response to the escalating situation, the developer issued an apology and pledged to enhance communication.
Additionally, they announced plans to readjust the rewards and provide additional compensation.
However, the fallout from the discontented fan base has already taken its toll, and it remains uncertain whether these measures will succeed in restoring the fans’ satisfaction.
ALSO READ: Charlton Athletic FC next new manager odds and favorites candidates list in 2023/24