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.