Genshin Impact is celebrating its first anniversary today after a year of incredible success, but lackluster rewards may be indicative of a larger problem. The groundbreaking free-to-play game has had its share of events over the past year that have given a plethora of rewards to players, so there was considerable community speculation about what exciting things miHoYo had in store for the anniversary. As it turns out, not much was planned at all, and the low ebb of excitement around the first anniversary seems to point to potentially greater issues.
This first anniversary is one of a string of disappointments that have been hitting the Genshin Impact community recently. When Inazuma was initially added to the game, many were surprised at the content's overall feeling of quality, but there have still been some misses. One of the more notable disappointments have been the new characters. When Yoimiya was added, a significant number of players felt like she wasn’t strong enough to be a five-star, or that she might even be broken. The Raiden Shogun was well received, though the issue of her not working with Beidou still remains. Lastly, there is the divisive Kokomi, whose launch was met with quite a bit of backlash for a -100% CRIT rate. This makes her unusable to many players, as she won’t be able to match the damage output of other five-star characters. The Inazuma Archon Quest was also a disappointment, its final conflict resolved through mere conversation.
Genshin Impact’s Anniversary Reveals A Bigger Problem
All of these complaints are relatively new, and could, in theory, be corrected in the future with buffs or additional story quests. However, these aren’t the only issues Genshin Impact has seen. There are several other characters that players have been requesting a buff for, such as Amber, Keqing, Kaeya, and Lisa. There is also the fact that the Electro reactions could use a boost (and could likely have used one since the game’s start). Players have also been asking for endgame content like randomized domains, respawnable chests, and daily content that doesn’t use resin. None of these things have, at this juncture, been substantively acknowledged by miHoYo.
Lastly, there is the issue with leaks. Starting in early September miHoYo launched a so-called Leakers Hunt Decree instead of releasing a roadmap, a more positive solution that would make leaks mostly useless. The reason players are interested in leaks is because of how little information tends to be available about upcoming content. While the community has asked for recognition and change, miHoYo has seemed largely more interested in applying its efforts toward stopping leaks.
Ultimately, the first anniversary is making some players feel like they aren’t being heard. Instead of celebrating the past year with fun prizes, artists and cosplayers have to put their time, money, and effort into a mere chance at some of these rewards. The real issue isn’t that the rewards aren’t good, it’s that the players feel underappreciated and overlooked. Genshin Impact’s first anniversary has brought up a lot of negativity, but there's still a chance that things could be turned around if miHoYo starts listening to the community a little more closely - or finds better ways to let them know that it has been.