Genshin Impact has come under fire because the whitewashing of people of color earlier, but the backlash against such accusations has never reached such a level as now, since the release of the new natlan nation is becoming increasingly menacing. The nation is primarily based on Latin America, but also features characters based on African gods. Despite this, the characters are all depicted as white, leading some fans to call for a boycott unless developer Hoyoverse changes course. The campaign has grown to the point that voice actors assigned to Genshin Impact and other Hoyoverse games are beginning to speak out, asking the studio to give the characters darker skin tones that match their real-world inspirations.
The promotional trailer Hoyoverse has made an offer Genshin Impact‘s Natlan update includes characters such as Ororon, apparently based on Ọlọrun, a deity in the African Yoruba religion; Mavuika, likely based on the Māori fire deity Mahuika; and Kinich, which is the same name as the Mayan sun god Kinich Ahau. Each of these characters and others introduced in Natlan are depicted as white or light-skinned in Genshin Impactand while fans were excited to see the RPG represent these cultures, depicting them with light-skinned characters was immediately met with backlash.
Fans have to draw up a petition By asking Hoyoverse to stop whitewashing his characters and engaging in cultural appropriation, a #BoycottHYV hashtag on social media and encourage players to voice their complaints through customer service channels. Several fan artists have begun creating mockups of dark-skinned characters in case Hoyoverse needs a reference.
As fans speak out, Genshin Impact voice actors have also started with roadsincluding Sucrose actor Valeria Rodríguez, Yomiya actor Jenny Yokobori, Cyno actor Alejandro Saab and Sethos actor Zeno Robinson, among several others.
We’ve reached out to Hoyoverse for comment and will update this story if we hear back. With Natlan’s release so close, it’s unlikely the studio will make any changes before launch, but we’ll see if the outcry leads to edits in a future update. This isn’t the first time Genshin Impact has faced this kind of controversy, as fans are still upset about the way the game portrayed characters from the nation of Sumeru, which is based on South Asian and Middle Eastern cultures, but also had characters that fans accused of money laundering.
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