A Genshin Impact leak may have potentially revealed upcoming character Shenhe’s weapon type. While developer MiHoYo has generally frowned upon those that leak information on the game, with the company recently doubling down on its efforts to shut down leakers by filing lawsuits against them, the game’s community is split on their benefits, and some have even argued that leaks actually help Genshin Impact.
The belief that leaks actually contribute to keeping Genshin Impact popular may have some weight to it, as leaks have usually created unscheduled hype for the massively popular online game in the spaces between MiHoYo’s official announcements and livestreams. With recent speculation claiming that Genshin Impact earned up to 3.7 billion in revenue during its first year, it’s possible that leaks have helped keep players interested in the game and even encouraged them to save up money to spend on upcoming characters that may have been leaked in advance.
Reddit user XenoVX shared the leak over at the appropriately named ShenheMains subreddit, which claims that Shenhe will be a catalyst user. What gives the leak, which is at least a month old at this point, some credibility is that part of it includes the claim that Gorou, Arataki Itto, Albedo and Eula will be the banner characters for the game’s 2.3 patch. That part of the leak has now been proven to be accurate as MiHoYo recently confirmed the four Genshin Impact characters for its upcoming 2.3 update, with Gorou and Aratakki Itto being the two new characters introduced in the patch while Albedo and Eula will feature as the two rerun banners.
Conversation from someone with a friend who has insider with Mihoyo suggesting Shenhe is coming in 2.4 and is a cryo catalyst. Explanation of his reliability in the comments. from ShenheMains
While Shenhe has yet to be announced as a playable character, and has only officially been mentioned in the game, a leak from last year gave players a glimpse of how the character looks and her role in the story. According to the previous Shenhe leak from last year, she is known as the crane adepti, Cloud Retainer, and will be a 5-star Cryo claymore user, although this latest leak may have debunked the previous claim on her weapon type. It’s possible that MiHoYo ended up reworking Shenhe after she was leaked last year. The new leak also claims that the character is planned for release in patch 2.4, so players may not have to wait too long to finally confirm all of her details.
Those who have been patiently waiting for a Cryo catalyst user in Genshin Impact may finally have their wishes granted with the arrival of Shenhe. However, it’s still entirely possible that the version of Shenhe that will eventually be released in Genshin Impact, if the character ends up being made a playable character at all, will be entirely different from what the leaks have claimed so far. Players will just have to wait for an official announcement from MiHoYo, which may arrive sometime next month if Shenhe is actually planned for release in Genshin Impact’s 2.4 update.
Genshin Impact is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Android, and iOS devices.
Source: XenoVX/Reddit