Genshin Impact fans clap back after users try to boycott game over racism and sexualization of minors
Some users started using #BoycottGenshin to accuse miHoYo of racism and even sexualizing minors. Despite the calls to boycott the title, a lot of fans stood up for Genshin Impact.
#BoycottGenshin went viral on April 5, drawing attention from users from different countries. Initially, people used to highlight the issues they thought were present in Genshin Impact.
Among the key reasons to boycott the game were:
- Some users thought that Hilichurls were based on Indigenous people. People used a video, where one of the developers animated a character watching Indians dancing, to prove their point.
#boycottgenshin IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT.., did yall know that mhy used indigenous people as reference for hilichurls?? they’re not even hiding it pic.twitter.com/78l1miiVMw
— milo 🐈⬛ (@venluvr) April 6, 2021
- Others also claimed that miHoYo was sexualizing minors. For example, one of the NPCs in Genshin Impact wanted to confess his love to a little girl named Flora. However, it’s been found out that she looked much older in Beta, so maybe developers just didn’t remove an old dialogue.
Y’all in #boycottgenshin wilding but
Beta Flora was meant to be an adult woman, hence the NPCs comments about confessing to her.
They changed that obviously but didn’t bother to remove the NPCs dialogue [heard it has been remove patch 1.4 tho?] pic.twitter.com/nUDrpKWA6K— Fisseha | Ad Astra What The Fuck (@fi_sse_ha) April 6, 2021
- miHoYo was also accused of having only two dark-skinned characters, Kayea and Xinyan. It made some of the players so upset they rushed to call developers racists.
- People also used this hashtag to raise concerns about security, criticizing the game for the lack of two-factor authentication.
Fans’ reactions
Despite the initial criticism, hundreds of fans started using #BoycottGenshin to defend the game and share ironic and sarcastic messages. For example, some players jokingly complained that miHoYo “nerfed” the size of Rosaria’s breasts.
Other people also used #BoycottGenshin to share sexualized and NSFW posts, deliberately objectifying female characters.
#boycottgenshin god Mona makes me so horny giving her happy handles was an incredible choice pic.twitter.com/5j8irM6Cj1
— Me¡ (@KumikoReturns) April 6, 2021
There were users who noted that some of the critics didn’t understand how boycott actually works. “If you want to [boycott Genshin Impact], then uninstall the game and never play it again,” user @loveskaeya wrote.
A lot of fans also started mocking people who criticized Genshin Impact for alleged racism and sexualization of minors. Many of these posts have already become more popular and received more likes than negative messages.
“oMg thEy bAseD ofF hiLicHurls on iNdiGeNouS pPl”
“WhY is KaeYa anD XinYAn arE oNly 2 dArK Skinned TonE CharAcTeRs!”
“OmG fLorA iS a cHiLD wHy DoEs Ulfr ‘aN aDulT’ wants to coNfEsS tO fLorA!!”
People are saying this without knowing the meaning behind#boycottgenshin #miHoYo pic.twitter.com/XQ4g84KRKK
— Kyle Austin (@xXxKyle667xXx) April 6, 2021
people need to know that the grass in genshin impact is mocking the real life grass we know today. how it waves and it grows back after being burned is not real and it’s utterly blasphemous !!#boycottgenshin pic.twitter.com/tNfKlPvvJT
— enki (@Kep3natan) April 6, 2021
It’s not the first time that Genshin Impact has faced criticism online. Last year, a lot of players complained about the game’s gacha mechanics and also called on others to stop giving their money to miHoYo. However, it didn’t affect the title’s success, as Genshin Impact surpassed $1 billion in lifetime revenue, which is an all-time record for a mobile game.
