HoYoverse president Liu Wei has recently shared insights into the emotional impact that harsh fan feedback has had on the Genshin Impact development team over the past year. Dive deeper into his remarks and the challenging times the game has faced.

Genshin Devs Felt Defeated and Useless Following Continuous Negative Feedback from Fans

Team Remains Committed to Improving Genshin and Listening to Fans

During his speech, captured and translated by the YouTube channel SentientBamboo, Liu Wei conveyed how the severe backlash from fans had profoundly affected the team. "Over the past year, both the Genshin team and I experienced significant anxiety and confusion," he stated. "We truly felt like we were going through some really tough times. We heard a lot of noise, and some of it was really sharp, causing our entire project team to feel really useless."

The president's comments followed a string of controversies related to Genshin Impact’s recent updates, notably the 4.4 Lantern Rite event. Fans expressed disappointment over the event rewards, particularly the meager three intertwined fates, which they deemed insufficient and uninspiring.

Many players voiced their frustration over what they perceived as a lack of exciting and substantial updates, especially when compared to other HoYoverse titles like Honkai: Star Rail. This dissatisfaction led to a surge of negative reviews and backlash. Additionally, Kuro Games’ new RPG, Wuthering Waves, became a point of comparison, with fans criticizing the differences in gameplay and character movement between the two games.

The discontent peaked with Genshin’s 4.5 Chronicled Banner, which introduced gacha mechanics that many found less favorable than the game’s traditional Event Banners. Criticism also arose regarding the game's direction, with some players feeling that characters inspired by real-life cultures were being "whitewashed" or misrepresented.

Wei appeared visibly moved during his speech, yet he acknowledged the concerns raised by the community. "Some people felt that our project team was really arrogant, saying that they don’t listen to anything," he noted. "But as [presenter] Aquaria mentioned – we’re just like everyone else, we are gamers too. We feel the same emotions as our players. We simply heard too much noise. We needed to calm down and discern the true voices of the Travelers."

Despite the difficulties, Liu expressed optimism for the game's future and its community, reaffirming the team's dedication to enhancing the game and engaging with its players. "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 move past their frustrations and wholeheartedly create the best experience possible."