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Despite not being within the union system, MiHoYo was affected by the 2024-2025 SAG-AFTRA video game voice actor strike, though this would stem from tangentially unrelated actions they took during this period. For Genshin Impact, MiHoYo previously worked with the voice acting group Formosa Interactive, who were being targeted in the SAG-AFTRA strike, but later announced in January 2025 that they had formed a new partnership with SIDE Global for English voice acting in the game, thereby allowing MiHoYo to have all of their most popular games include new voice work from studios not targeted by the strike. From March to May 2025, they announced that various English voice actors for Zenless Zone Zero, Genshin Impact, and Honkai: Star Rail would be replaced, with several actors involved with the games citing the strike as the reason they withheld their work. On March 27, SAG-AFTRA tweeted a link to guidelines for a video game voice actor union agreement on their website and called on MiHoYo to sign a contract with them, a move that some pointed out would put severe limitations on how the company could work with non-union voice actors and one that MiHoYo did not respond to.
The same day, voice actor Jacob Takanashi announced that he would be serving as the new voice actor for Kinich in Genshin Impact. Takanashi had described it as "the opportunity to carry the flame from the previous flamebearer", making it seem as if Patneaude had stepped down from the role for reasons other than the strike (it should be noted that Patneaude joined the strike in solidarity, and neither of the actors are believed to be union members). This caused many strike supporters to accuse Takanashi of being a scab, with other Genshin Impact voice actors criticizing him including Corina Boettger (Paimon), Kayli Mills (Keqing), and Valeria Rodriguez (Sucrose). Likewise, the playerbase was heavily divided on the situation. While many agreed with the voice actors' sentiment on the situation, others defended Takanashi from the backlash due to him not being a union actor, and criticized the voice actors for what they perceived to be a lack of professionalism.
The same day, voice actor Jacob Takanashi announced that he would be serving as the new voice actor for Kinich in Genshin Impact. Takanashi had described it as "the opportunity to carry the flame from the previous flamebearer", making it seem as if Patneaude had stepped down from the role for reasons other than the strike (it should be noted that Patneaude joined the strike in solidarity, and neither of the actors are believed to be union members). This caused many strike supporters to accuse Takanashi of being a scab, with other Genshin Impact voice actors criticizing him including Corina Boettger (Paimon), Kayli Mills (Keqing), and Valeria Rodriguez (Sucrose). Likewise, the playerbase was heavily divided on the situation. While many agreed with the voice actors' sentiment on the situation, others defended Takanashi from the backlash due to him not being a union actor, and criticized the voice actors for what they perceived to be a lack of professionalism.
Zenless Zone Zero Version 1.7 details (Replaced several voice actors including Katie Cofield (Koleda Belobog), Chelsea Kwoka (Grace Howard), and Crystal Lee (Alexandrina Sebastiane). As of this version, the only Agent in the game still unvoiced is Jane Doe, who is voiced by Kelsey Jaffer.):
https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/news-zenless-zone-zero-zzz-replaces-multiple-voice-actors-version-1-7
Zenless Zone Zero Version 1.6 details:
https://www.hoyolab.com/article/37573923
Genshin Impact Version 5.5 details:
https://www.hoyolab.com/article/37812368
Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.3 details:
https://www.hoyolab.com/article/38894296
Formosa Projects list:
https://formosagroup.com/interactive-projects/
SIDE Global tweet:
https://x.com/SideGlobal/status/1879555930318311719
Statements from voice actors:
https://x.com/emerichase/status/1899670401812451825
https://x.com/NThurkettle/status/1899671603765776498
https://x.com/JohnPatneaude/status/1904931243944534424
SAG-AFTRA proposal tweet and community notes:
https://archive.ph/vc8Ia
https://x.com/sagaftra/status/1905295740123136480
PC Gamer article:
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/diabolical-genshin-impacts-english-cast-gives-new-vo-the-cold-shoulder-after-he-frames-replacing-a-striking-actor-as-an-opportunity-to-carry-the-flame/
Newsweek article:
https://www.newsweek.com/entertainment/video-games/honkai-star-rail-version-33-patch-notes-bring-new-voice-actors-main-characters-2075170
https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/news-zenless-zone-zero-zzz-replaces-multiple-voice-actors-version-1-7
Zenless Zone Zero Version 1.6 details:
https://www.hoyolab.com/article/37573923
Genshin Impact Version 5.5 details:
https://www.hoyolab.com/article/37812368
Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.3 details:
https://www.hoyolab.com/article/38894296
Formosa Projects list:
https://formosagroup.com/interactive-projects/
SIDE Global tweet:
https://x.com/SideGlobal/status/1879555930318311719
Statements from voice actors:
https://x.com/emerichase/status/1899670401812451825
https://x.com/NThurkettle/status/1899671603765776498
https://x.com/JohnPatneaude/status/1904931243944534424
SAG-AFTRA proposal tweet and community notes:
https://archive.ph/vc8Ia
https://x.com/sagaftra/status/1905295740123136480
PC Gamer article:
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/diabolical-genshin-impacts-english-cast-gives-new-vo-the-cold-shoulder-after-he-frames-replacing-a-striking-actor-as-an-opportunity-to-carry-the-flame/
Newsweek article:
https://www.newsweek.com/entertainment/video-games/honkai-star-rail-version-33-patch-notes-bring-new-voice-actors-main-characters-2075170
subdirectory_arrow_right HoYoverse (Company)
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On January 17, 2025, it was announced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that Cognosphere (who does business in the US as HoYoverse) had agreed to a $20 million settlement for selling loot boxes to children and collecting their personal data without parental consent in Genshin Impact. According to the FTC, Cognosphere had "deceived children and other users about the real costs of in-game transactions" by requiring them to buy virtual money in the game and subsequently collected their personal information in direct violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Terms of the settlement include the company not being allowed to sell loot boxes to children, requirements to disclose the loot box odds, and deleting all the personal information of users under the age of 13.
subdirectory_arrow_right Sonic Frontiers (Game)
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During The Game Awards 2022, the final two rounds of the Players' Voice award (the only award of the show to be determined entirely by the public) were effectively a toss-up between the top 2 games: Genshin Impact and Sonic Frontiers. Unexpectedly, fans of both games became highly adversarial, accusing each other of bribery and vote rigging by using bots, and facetiously perpetuating their opposition's claims to inflate the controversy. Some accused voters for Genshin Impact of rigging the results under the belief that they would receive in-game currency should it win, something that had previously occurred after the game won the award for Best Mobile Game in 2021, while others noted a sharp increase of thousands of votes for Sonic Frontiers among other games in the API data on The Game Awards' website after the controversy gained steam. Despite this, there was no credible evidence of bots or bribery on either side, and host Geoff Keighley assured that his team would investigate the matter. The brigading and online arguing became noticeably popular on Reddit, to the point that the subreddit r/SonicTheHedgehog had to restrict any posts related to the controversy. In the end, Genshin Impact won the award. Keighley jokingly referenced the incident during the event, and all Genshin Impact players received free Primogems as a result, though tensions remained high between the two fandoms after the event. Keighley noted that the whole thing reaffirmed the show's decision to not allow fully-public voting for its main categories.
Article about the situation:
https://www.pcgamer.com/game-awards-2022-players-voice-sonic-frontiers/
Geoff Keighley remarks:
https://kotaku.com/genshin-impact-tga-sonic-frontiers-geoff-keighley-1849848710
Genshin winning the award:
https://www.pcgamer.com/genshin-impact-emerges-victorious-in-the-bitter-game-awards-war-against-sonic-frontiers/
Free Primogems:
https://www.siliconera.com/genshin-impact-the-game-awards-2022-win-means-free-primogems/
https://www.pcgamer.com/game-awards-2022-players-voice-sonic-frontiers/
Geoff Keighley remarks:
https://kotaku.com/genshin-impact-tga-sonic-frontiers-geoff-keighley-1849848710
Genshin winning the award:
https://www.pcgamer.com/genshin-impact-emerges-victorious-in-the-bitter-game-awards-war-against-sonic-frontiers/
Free Primogems:
https://www.siliconera.com/genshin-impact-the-game-awards-2022-win-means-free-primogems/
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Some players and game journalists have persistently accused the game's developers HoYoverse of perceived cultural appropriation and discriminating against people with dark skin colors through the game's character designs. This started in April 2021, when it was noted how the only dark-skinned playable characters at the time, Xinyan and Kaeya, were described in-game as "exotic" and "scary" respectively. The release of version 3.0 in August 2022 introduced the Sumeru region, which while being based on cultures from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, depicted many playable characters and NPCs from the region as being light-skinned. In March 2023, the character Dehya was released; while hailing from Sumeru and being one of the few dark-skinned playable characters in the game, she faced similar accusations due to some fans perceiving her abilities as underpowered and dysfunctional. In July 2024, HoYoverse released a trailer announcing they would be adding a new region to the game named Natlan, which was inspired by pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, Africa and Polynesia. The character designs used for Natlan were once again criticized due to the majority of the characters being depicted with light skin despite the darker-skinned native races of its inspirations. The difference this time was that seven of the game's voice actors also joined in the criticism, including Khoi Dao (Albedo), Zeno Robinson (Sethos), Valeria Rodriguez (Sucrose), Jenny Yokobori (Yoimiya), Alejandro Saeb (Cyno), Allegra Clark (Beidou), and Anne Yatco (Raiden Shogun).
Initial complaints:
https://www.businessinsider.com/genshin-impact-boycott-gamers-allege-colorism-in-twitter-campaign-2021-4
Sumeru controversy:
https://web.archive.org/web/20230428234441/https://www.kotaku.com.au/2022/07/latest-genshin-impact-leaks-spark-whitewashing-controversy/
Dehya controversy:
https://kotaku.com/genshin-impact-mihoyo-hoyoverse-dehya-leaks-nerf-1850180828
Natlan controversy:
https://www.ign.com/articles/genshin-impact-voice-actors-join-in-criticism-of-upcoming-natlans-regions-character-designs
https://www.businessinsider.com/genshin-impact-boycott-gamers-allege-colorism-in-twitter-campaign-2021-4
Sumeru controversy:
https://web.archive.org/web/20230428234441/https://www.kotaku.com.au/2022/07/latest-genshin-impact-leaks-spark-whitewashing-controversy/
Dehya controversy:
https://kotaku.com/genshin-impact-mihoyo-hoyoverse-dehya-leaks-nerf-1850180828
Natlan controversy:
https://www.ign.com/articles/genshin-impact-voice-actors-join-in-criticism-of-upcoming-natlans-regions-character-designs
subdirectory_arrow_right Identity V (Game)
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Article about controversy:
https://www.superpixel.com/article/5220/chinese-voice-actor-being-accused-cheating-manipulation-losing-his-leading-role-popular-dating-sim-game
Genshin Impact company's response:
https://gamingonphone.com/culture/genshin-impact-disappearance-of-fischl-might-be-related-to-the-chinese-voice-actors-adultery/
https://www.superpixel.com/article/5220/chinese-voice-actor-being-accused-cheating-manipulation-losing-his-leading-role-popular-dating-sim-game
Genshin Impact company's response:
https://gamingonphone.com/culture/genshin-impact-disappearance-of-fischl-might-be-related-to-the-chinese-voice-actors-adultery/
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On February 7th, 2023, Tighnari's English voice actor Elliot Gindi announced on Twitter that he would be taking a break from his online activity to seek therapy, claiming that the "influx of fans and fame" he gained from his work in the game "really messed [him] up". The following day, two moderators for Gindi's fan Discord servers posted to Twitter alleged evidence of offenses that Gindi had conducted in private, ranging from emotional abuse, blackmail, sexism, and having sexual relations with underage fans, with other users also coming forward to accuse Gindi of further acts. Shortly after these documents were posted, Gindi posted a Twitlonger tweet confirming that most of the allegations were true, although he denied the allegations involving underage fans. On February 16th, the game's developer HoYoverse released an official statement revealing that Gindi would no longer be voicing Tighnari, with the official reason being a "breach of contract". They also confirmed that the character would be recast at a later date, and on April 11th, they revealed he would be replaced by American actor Zachary Gordon.
Elliot Gindi response:
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/genshin-impact-voice-actor-abusive-behaviour-fans-elliot-gindi-tighnari-022348844.html
Elliot Gindi firing:
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/genshin-impact-to-drop-tighnari-voice-actor-elliot-gindi-after-claims-of-underage-sex-abuse-032745838.html
HoYoverse official statement:
https://twitter.com/GenshinImpact/status/1626046203849834496
Tighnari recast:
https://www.polygon.com/23678732/genshin-impact-tighnari-diary-of-a-wimpy-kid
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/genshin-impact-voice-actor-abusive-behaviour-fans-elliot-gindi-tighnari-022348844.html
Elliot Gindi firing:
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/genshin-impact-to-drop-tighnari-voice-actor-elliot-gindi-after-claims-of-underage-sex-abuse-032745838.html
HoYoverse official statement:
https://twitter.com/GenshinImpact/status/1626046203849834496
Tighnari recast:
https://www.polygon.com/23678732/genshin-impact-tighnari-diary-of-a-wimpy-kid
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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is held in high regard by the development team, and is cited as one of the main inspirations for Genshin Impact:
"In a post that our team circulated to players last year, we mentioned that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was one of our inspirations for creating Genshin Impact as an open-world action RPG. That said, it is important to note that once you actually pick up the game, you will find the experience of Genshin Impact to be very different from that of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild."
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