Genshin Impact ( / ˈ ɡ ɛ n . ʃ ɪ n / , GHEN -shin , Chinese : 原神 ; pinyin : Yuánshén ; lit. 'Primordial God') is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed and published by miHoYo. It is distributed outside China by miHoYo's international subsidiary Cognosphere, also known as HoYoverse. The game features an anime-style open-world environment and an action-based battle system that uses elemental magic and character-switching. A free-to-play game monetized through gacha mechanics, Genshin Impact is updated regularly using the games as a service model. It was originally released for Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, and Windows, followed by the PlayStation 5 in 2021, with an Xbox Series X/S version in November 2024. In China, a native port for HarmonyOS NEXT was released in September 2025. PlayStation 4 was removed on April 8, 2026.
Genshin Impact takes inspiration from a variety of sources, including the game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, anime, Gnosticism, and an array of real-world cultures and mythologies. The game takes place in the fantasy world of Teyvat, home to seven nations each tied to a different element and ruled by individual gods called "Archons." The story follows the Traveler, an interstellar adventurer who is separated from their twin sibling after the two land in Teyvat. Together with their guide Paimon, the Traveler journeys across the nations of Teyvat in search of their lost sibling. Along the way, the two make friends with Teyvat's people, become involved in the affairs of its nations, and unravel the mysteries of the land.
Genshin Impact has received generally positive reviews, with critics praising its combat mechanics and open-world system, but some criticism has been directed at its endgame and its monetization model. The game has also been involved in controversies over censorship of content related to Chinese politics, as well as privacy and security concerns.
The game performed very well commercially; by its fourth anniversary in 2024, the game had reached US$6.3 billion in total revenue. It has received several awards, including Best Mobile Game at the 2021 Game Awards and Still Playing Award at the 2023 Golden Joystick Awards.
Gameplay
Genshin Impact is an open-world video game where players can control one of four characters in a party. Players can switch between the four characters quickly during battles. Characters can improve their abilities in several ways, such as by earning experience points and upgrading their artifacts and weapons.
In Genshin Impact, players can explore the open-world map freely. They can also complete challenges to earn rewards. Strong enemies and special challenges that give valuable resources are found throughout Teyvat. However, completing these challenges uses a type of currency called Original Resin, which slowly regains up to a certain amount over time. Completing challenges helps players increase their Adventure Rank, which unlocks new quests, challenges, and raises the World Level. The World Level affects how strong enemies are and how rare their rewards are.
Players can move by running, climbing, swimming, and gliding. Some characters have abilities that change the environment, such as freezing water to make ice paths for moving across difficult terrain. Players can use teleportation points to quickly travel to different areas. These points include Statues of The Seven, which can heal characters, revive them, and increase their stamina. Players can collect items like food and materials from the open world. Special battles called "Domains" give materials that improve characters and weapons. Meals made from collected ingredients can help restore health or improve abilities. Players can also gather ore, which can be refined to make weapons or improve their strength.
A multiplayer mode called co-op allows up to four players to work together. Players can join others manually or through an automatic match system. The game supports cross-platform play, meaning players on different devices can play together. This mode becomes available when players reach Adventure Rank 16.
Players can unlock new characters by completing certain quests or participating in limited-time events. Most characters and weapons are obtained through the game's gacha system, called "Wishes." An in-game currency called "Primogems," earned through purchases or gameplay rewards, is needed to use the gacha system. A pity system ensures players receive rare items after a set number of attempts.
Each character controls one of seven elements: Anemo (air), Geo (earth), Pyro (fire), Hydro (water), Cryo (ice), Electro (electricity), and Dendro (plants). When these elements interact, they create effects. For example, a Hydro attack can make an enemy "Wet," and a Cryo attack can freeze the enemy, stopping them from acting.
Each character has two combat abilities: an "Elemental Skill" and an "Elemental Burst." Elemental Skills have a cooldown period, while Elemental Bursts are powerful attacks that cost energy. Players must collect enough energy to use these abilities. Players can improve their party's strength by using abilities wisely and targeting enemies' weaknesses. Some abilities are also needed to solve puzzles in the world.
A collectible card game called Genius Invokation TCG was added in Version 3.3 in December 2022. This mode uses turn-based battles, where players use a deck of three characters and thirty supporting cards. Players win by defeating all of their opponent's character cards. Each round requires rolling dice, which limits how players can use their cards. Elemental reactions are also part of this mode. Players can challenge NPCs, other characters, or real players in co-op mode.
A sandbox and user-generated game creation system called Miliastra Wonderland was added in the "Luna II" update in October 2025. This system lets players create and share content using existing assets, terrain, and enemies from Genshin Impact. Players can create content from the perspective of the Wonderland Manekin, a new customizable character unlocked by completing Miliastra Wonderland.
Story
Genshin Impact is set in the world of Teyvat, which consists of seven major nations. Each nation is ruled by a god called an "Archon" and is connected to a different element and ideal. Above Teyvat floats the island of Celestia, where gods and mortals who have become gods live. Below Teyvat lies the ruins of Khaenri'ah, a mysterious nation destroyed by Celestia 500 years ago.
People from any nation who have great ambitions may be given a Vision, a magical gemstone that lets them control an element and gives them the chance to become a god and live in Celestia. Archons, however, have a Gnosis, a device similar to a Vision that confirms their status as an Archon and allows them to connect with Celestia.
The main characters are the Traveler and Paimon, the Traveler's guide and companion. The Traveler and their twin sibling once traveled across planets but were separated in Teyvat. This separation forces the Traveler to search for their sibling. Players can choose to play as Aether (the brother) or Lumine (the sister), though the player's username is used throughout the game.
The main enemies are the Abyss Order, a group of monsters made from people from Khaenri'ah who were corrupted and want to overthrow the current world order. The Fatui are a group of diplomats from Snezhnaya who try to control other nations in Teyvat through aggressive actions. The Traveler's twin leads the Abyss Order, while the Fatui are led by the Eleven Harbingers, powerful assistants to the Cryo Archon, Tsaritsa, who carry out her orders.
A pair of twins who can travel between worlds, Aether and Lumine, arrive in Teyvat just as Khaenri'ah collapses. A mysterious god calling herself the "Sustainer of Heavenly Principles" attacks, separates them, and seals the playable twin for 500 years. When the Traveler wakes up, they rescue Paimon, who becomes their guide as they search for their lost sibling.
Their journey begins in Mondstadt, where a corrupted dragon named Stormterror threatens the city. With help from the Knights of Favonius (who protect Mondstadt) and the bard Venti (who is secretly the Anemo Archon Barbatos), the Traveler purifies the dragon. However, La Signora, a Fatui Harbinger, steals Venti's Gnosis. Following Venti's advice, the Traveler travels to Liyue to witness the Geo Archon Rex Lapis's annual rite, where he gives guidance to the people of Liyue. Instead, Rex Lapis appears to have been killed. The Traveler works with Zhongli, a local funeral consultant, and the Fatui Harbinger Tartaglia to find the cause. They discover Tartaglia is trying to obtain the Geo Gnosis by summoning the ancient god Osial to force Rex Lapis's hand. After the crisis, Zhongli reveals he is Rex Lapis and retires after exchanging his Gnosis with Tsaritsa.
In Mondstadt, the Traveler meets Dainsleif and learns their twin now leads the Abyss Order. The twin refuses to reunite and disappears. The Traveler then travels to Inazuma, a nation ruled by the Raiden Shogun's Sakoku Decree. There, the Traveler faces the Shogun, joins a resistance group, and confronts Signora and the Raiden Shogun. This leads to Signora's death, the end of the oppressive decree, and the discovery of deeper Fatui involvement.
In Sumeru, the Akademiya, the ruling institution, tries to turn Scaramouche, a puppet made by the Raiden Shogun, into a god with the help of the Fatui Harbinger Il Dottore. With the aid of the Dendro Archon Nahida, the Traveler stops their plan, enters the world tree Irminsul, and prevents the Abyss from corrupting it by erasing the previous Dendro Archon's existence. Later, Dottore takes the Dendro and Electro Gnoses from Nahida. The Traveler learns they are one of the Descenders, a group of four people who came from outside Teyvat, but their sibling is not a Descender. They also learn their sibling is royalty from Khaenri'ah.
In Fontaine, the Traveler and their companions uncover a prophecy about the nation's destruction by a flood. They discover Furina, who claims to be the Hydro Archon, is actually a human. After stopping the flood, Neuvillette, Fontaine's chief justice, sends them to Natlan, a nation of warriors facing an Abyss threat. The Traveler helps the Natlanese defeat the Abyss.
In Nod-Krai, the Traveler's group pursues the Moon Marrow, a core of energy from the body of one of Teyvat's moon goddesses. They learn about the Wild Hunt, a group of Abyss monsters controlled by Rerir, a dangerous Sinner from Khaenri'ah who is trying to regain form. After battles, illusions, and alliances with Columbina (a moon goddess and former Fatui Harbinger) and Arlecchino (another Fatui Harbinger), they trap Rerir using memory manipulation and banish him from Teyvat. Later, Dottore steals two Moon Marrows from Columbina during a festival and creates an artificial Moon Marrow to become a god. The Traveler and their allies stop Dottore, retrieve the Moon Marrows, and are believed to have killed him.
Development
In January 2017, when Genshin Impact was first being developed, the company miHoYo was working on another game called Honkai Impact 3rd. They planned to release a sequel to this game within a few years. In April 2017, version 1.4 of Honkai Impact 3rd was released. This version had a strong impact on the team, which inspired them to create an open-world concept for Genshin Impact.
By February 2021, the development team for Genshin Impact had grown to nearly 300 people. One estimate said that about 700 people were working on the game that month, which was roughly 29% of miHoYo’s total staff. The developers said the biggest challenge was combining the ideas of all contributors into the game and showing each character’s background through their visual design. The developers were also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of local rules, they had to work from home, using equipment that a member of miHoYo’s global publishing team described as not enough for the job.
To build the game’s world and story, the team studied real-world myths and chose Gnosticism as the main idea for the game’s setting and narrative. The game’s elemental reaction system was based on real chemical reactions. The game also included elements from real-world cultures in its world-building. For example, the region of Liyue was inspired by ancient China, and Fontaine was based on Europe during the Industrial Revolution.
miHoYo first shared Genshin Impact with the public in June 2019 at E3 2019. The game had a development and marketing budget of about US$100 million. Between the announcement and release, closed beta tests were held, allowing invited players to explore the open world.
A music team led by Yu-Peng Chen from HOYO-MiX created the game’s original score. This music was performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. HoYoverse said the goal of the soundtrack was to help players feel immersed in the game and provide what Chen called emotional and beautiful melodies. Chen based the music on cultural influences from different regions. For example, in Mondstadt, he used woodwind instruments to reflect the area’s connection to wind and freedom. In Liyue, he combined Chinese folk music elements, such as traditional instruments and a pentatonic scale, with Western Romantic harmonies and orchestral arrangements. The battle themes are polyphonic and were inspired by orchestration styles from composers like Beethoven. On September 12, 2023, Yu-Peng Chen announced on Bilibili that he was leaving miHoYo and the HOYO-MiX team after working on the game’s music and expansions since its release.
Genshin Impact was criticized for not having security features that other sites usually have, such as two-factor authentication. On October 19, 2020, a security flaw on the miHoYo website exposed players’ phone numbers used for password recovery. The issue was not fixed until November 9, 2020, three weeks after it was reported. After these security problems, miHoYo advised players to be careful about sharing account details and to link their accounts to an email address and phone number. In May 2021, two-factor authentication was added for logins from new devices.
Like many online games, Genshin Impact uses an anti-cheat system powered by a kernel driver to stop cheating methods like code injection and memory inspection. Soon after the game was released, players found that the anti-cheat system stayed active even after the game was closed or uninstalled, causing concerns about spyware. Some Japanese players using iOS devices noticed the game accessed their clipboard during startup. miHoYo said these issues were caused by coding errors and had been fixed.
Release
Closed beta testing for the game started on June 21, 2019. In August of that year, miHoYo shared news at ChinaJoy that Genshin Impact would be released for the PlayStation 4. On January 4, 2020, miHoYo officially shared details about a Nintendo Switch version, but no release date was given. A second closed beta test for iOS, Android, and PC users began on March 19, 2020. In August 2020, it was announced that the game would be released on September 28, 2020, for iOS, Android, and PC.
On November 11, 2020, the game became available on PlayStation 5 using code from the PlayStation 4 version. A version specifically designed for PlayStation 5 was released on April 28, 2021. On August 20, 2024, miHoYo announced that the game would be released for Xbox Series X and Series S consoles on November 20 of that year.
After the game launched, miHoYo shared a plan for future content updates. At the time of release, only two of the game’s seven main areas were available, and the company expected the story to take several years to complete.
In August 2025, HoYoverse announced that support for PlayStation 4 would end on April 8, 2026, due to hardware limits and large file sizes. The option to download the game was removed on September 10, 2025, and in-game purchases stopped on February 25, 2026.
Reception
When Genshin Impact was first shown at the ChinaJoy convention in 2019, some people said it looked too similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a game that the developers admired and used as inspiration. Zelda fans at the convention showed their disapproval by giving the Sony booth the middle finger. One player even broke his PlayStation 4 console in protest. Kamui Ye from IGN China pointed out similarities like the game world, art style, and gameplay, while also noting what makes Genshin Impact unique.
Genshin Impact received "generally favorable reviews" from Metacritic, a review site, and an 87% rating on OpenCritic. Critics praised the game’s world-building and design. IGN’s Travis Northup called the game world "a place full of endless possibilities," and Hardcore Gamer’s Jordan Helm said it felt like "a giant puzzle made of environments." The game’s success is partly because of its visual design and use of Chinese cultural references. For example, Liyue was praised by Kotaku’s Sisi Jiang as "one of the most exciting regions in a video game in years," who noted how it shows an idealized version of Chinese social life. Some fans, however, raised concerns about the game’s use of Chinese culture in character designs for Sumeru and Natlan.
The gameplay was also well-received. Daniel Tack from Game Informer said Genshin Impact was an incredible experience, writing that the loop of collecting, upgrading, and customizing items is "captivating and compelling." Pocket Gamer’s Dave Aubrey praised the gameplay execution, and Destructoid’s Chris Carter called the combat system "one of the most interesting parts of the game." Kaity Kline from NPR said the game has a lot of content even though it is free to play. Gene Park from The Washington Post called the game "revolutionary" for its genre, allowing players to imagine mobile games with quality similar to top-tier experiences. Polygon’s Khee Hoon Chan also praised the game for standing out from others, becoming popular as mobile games gained mainstream attention and attracting players who couldn’t play resource-heavy RPGs.
The English voice acting received less praise. Sisi Jiang from Kotaku said the English voices didn’t match the original Chinese version, comparing the Chinese voices to "real friends" and the English ones to "anime tropes." Some fans disliked the voices for characters like Barbara and criticized the actors who voiced them. Nathan Grayson from Kotaku wrote that Barbara’s voice actress, Laura Stahl, was harassed "for being good at taking notes from a director." Some English voice actors refused to record lines during the 2024–2025 SAG-AFTRA video game strike, leading to changes in roles. For example, Paimon’s voice actress was changed from Corinna Boettger to Penelope Rawlins, a change welcomed by Austin Wood from GamesRadar+. The game also has Japanese and Korean voice lines. The Japanese cast is often described as "star-studded," and Korean reviewers like Park Gwang-seok from Inven called the Korean dub "impeccable" and "of a high level of completion."
Genshin Impact has been criticized for its endgame content, its gacha system (a way to earn in-game items by spending money), and limits on players who don’t want to spend money. Ari Notis from Kotaku said the game has "some of the typical issues that come with a free-to-play model" and that the gacha system can create a "cycle that belongs more in Reno, Nevada, than in a magical fantasy world." Heidi Kemps from GameSpot said the game is "hampered" by its free-to-play model, and Steven Messner from PC Gamer said the endgame becomes "a slog" because of the resin system, which limits how much players can do. Gene Park from The Washington Post warned that the gacha system might encourage players to gamble, and Matthew Adams from the British Journal of Chinese Studies said the system changes how people interact in digital communities.
The Genius Invokation TCG minigame received positive reviews when it launched. Marco Wutz from USA Today compared it to Gwent from The Witcher 3 and said it could attract more players. Siliconera’s Stephanie Liu said the minigame reminded her of the game’s early excitement. Editors from Youxiputao said the minigame could improve the game’s long-term experience and strengthen player relationships. Liu praised the minigame’s balanced design and simplicity, saying it should remain fair because all players get the same cards. Sisi Jiang from Kotaku said she became addicted to it and hoped miHoYo would release more cards.
When Miliastra Wonderland launched in 2025, it received mostly positive reviews. Robin Bea from Inverse called it "one of the biggest features" in the game. She and Wood compared it to Roblox and The Sims. Wood praised the free battle pass for Miliastra Wonderland, which players could get by buying the regular battle pass, and said the avatar customization options were better than the limited skins for the game’s main characters.
On mobile platforms, Genshin Impact had 23 million downloads and earned about $60 million in its first week. Within two weeks, it made over $100 million, covering its development and marketing costs. Its strong performance continued through October 2020, when it was the highest-grossing mobile game worldwide. Most of its revenue came from China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States, with 69.5% of mobile revenue generated outside China. In
Collaborations
According to reports from Beijing Business Today, Genshin Impact has worked with several companies, including Heytea, Pizza Hut, Mengniu Suibian, Amap, Redmi, Nippon Paint, KFC, and OnePlus. According to partial data from Xinmin Evening News, the game partnered with at least fourteen brands, such as Lawson, Alipay, and Amap, during the second half of 2022.
On September 20, 2023, QQ Music and WeSing held an event to celebrate the third anniversary of Genshin Impact for players. On November 3, 2023, the game announced a partnership with Juneyao Airlines. The airline introduced the world’s first airplane decorated with a Genshin Impact theme, named "Genshin" (registration number B-209R). The airplane started flying on domestic and international routes on November 8, 2023.
Genshin Impact’s collaborations were not limited to mainland China. On July 29, 2021, Japan’s Sweets Paradise announced that all twelve of its stores in Japan would become Genshin Impact-themed cafes for one month, starting September 1. These cafes offered food inspired by the game’s Mondstadt region and sold special items for purchase. miHoYo holds the HoYo FEST event in several Southeast Asian countries each year, where local restaurants provide themed meals and items. The game also has official booths at international conventions. In December 2025, Duolingo announced a partnership in which learners in certain areas who completed three days of study in a row would receive a code to use in the game.
Other media
Before the game was released, miHoYo posted a comic on its websites that explained the characters' backgrounds and the world of Teyvat. Also, animated videos showing the game's story, characters, and fighting style were shared regularly on Genshin Impact's official YouTube channels.
In September 2022, miHoYo announced a collaboration with the Japanese animation studio Ufotable to create a planned anime based on the game, along with a preview video. By January 2026, the anime was still being developed. Some players thought this might be because Ufotable was focusing on another project, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.