Genshin Impact has made waves with its release and overwhelming success as a free-to-play ‘Breath of the Wild clone.’ Although it has barely been out for two months, fans have been quick to pour their time and money into miHoYo’s hit title, some finding more luck than others.
Like most free-to-start mobile games, Genshin Impact relies on a system of premium currency, available for purchase with real cash, to stay afloat. Of course, games like these often offer players free gems here and there, but for the most part, premium currency is earned by spending actual dollars.
Primogems are the premium currency offered by Genshin Impact, and needless to say they’re highly sought after by most players. One fairly popular streamer, “Xlice,” has now spurred a bit of tension within the game’s community by accidentally revealing they received free Primogem packages from miHoYo, the game’s developer.
Towards the end of one of Xlice’s recent streams, they received a new in-game message, which fans quickly prompted the entertainer to open. To everyone’s surprise, this new message contained a brief note from miHoYo, along with 1,000 Primogems. This message was shortly followed by an identical second message, containing an additional 1,000 Primogems.
Whether or not Xlice was aware of their incoming sponsorship is irrelevant to most fans; rather, fans are disappointed by the lack of transparency. If streamers are generating viewers using their experience of a game, it seems only fair that viewers should be fully aware of that experience. Fans watching videos about players spending thousands of dollars on Genshin Impact Primogems would probably want to know if the majority of those Primogems were received for free as a promotional offer.
The responsibility falls on both miHoYo and streamers instances like this, and players are asking for more transparency. Any player receiving tons of free gifts would be understandably glad to celebrate the game and its features, and fans have also been quick to note the message included with the free gift:
“We would like to thank all Travelers for your continued support and assistance. Please take this gift as a token of Paimon’s gratitude. (Please refrain from sharing the content of this message with anyone.)”
Fans are concerned that it’s clear not all Travelers are being thanked for their continued support in the same way, and even more importantly, fans are disappointed that miHoYo would actively stipulate these gifts be kept a secret. Few people seem to be upset about fellow players getting free Primogems, the issue regards a lack of communication.
Genshin Impact is available now on the App Store, Google Play, PC, and PS4, and is currently in development for Switch.
