Update 30/9/21: MiHoYo released the following statement, along with an announcement of new anniversary goodies:
We’ve been paying close attention to various feedbacks regarding Genshin Impact first anniversary. We’ve already come up with more celebrations including the coming Genshin Impact online concert and thank-you gifts to express our gratitude for players’ support all the way along. The opinions and feedback from players and fans are really valuable to us, and we wish all fans will continue the adventure and collect more cherished memories in Teyvat.
Original story below
After a years' worth of dedicating time and money to the world of Teyvat, fans of Genshin Impact are organizing across the internet in a clamorous outcry for the game's lackluster anniversary event rewards, leading to the game being review bombed.
miHoYo, the developers of Genshin Impact, has remained silent despite the evident unrest amongst its community. With Genshin Impact's mobile version surpassing $1 billion in March of this year, miHoYo's frugal recompense to its dedicated player base has blown up in its face.
How are Genshin Impact fans reacting?
Within the community, fans had been hoping for an unannounced addition to the event's rewards, but to widespread disappointment, miHoYo has been radio silent. Anniversary day has finally arrived and the lid on the Genshin Impact community's boiling pot of frustration has finally exploded.
The mobile version of the game has been review bombed on the Google Play Store. Genshin Impact's rating has fallen over two stars following over 3,400 negative reviews today alone, per Sensor Tower. Over 400,000 tweets about miHoYo have sprouted up on Twitter, and official social channels have had to implement methods to slow down spam comments from those upset (for example the discord is in slow mode). Many fans are already calling quits with the wildly successful Gacha game. With fans reacting so harshly, many are wondering why miHoYo has not followed the Gacha industry-standard of bountiful rewards for anniversaries.
What Rewards Do Genshin Impact Players Get For The Anniversary?
The unrest has been mounting since miHoYo announced the anniversary event's rewards weeks ago. For each day that players log in from the start of Genshin Impact's anniversary, Sept. 8, they'll be rewarded with things like weapon and character experience, a handful of in-game currency, and an occasional free Gacha roll.
A Message in Time, another community event surrounding the anniversary, is also frustrating players due to its chance-based rewards. Fans of the game can participate in a raffle by creating anniversary art with hopes to win one Blessing of the Weklin Moon, which is a month's-worth of free Primogems that costs about $5, or 100,000 in-game Mora, which can be earned in about a minute through one of the game's daily tasks. 10% of players people within the raffle will win the Blessing of the Welkin Moon and 90% will earn the Mora. While players earn rewards, miHoYo is granted free art to advertise their game on social media.
Another event the Genshin Impact community is upset over is the limited-time anniversary web event, An Unforgettable Journey. As endearing and commemorative as it is having miHoYo detail various personal statistics accrued across your journey in Teyvat, the nostalgic lull is quickly dismissed when the theater-themed web event ends with a small gift of 40 Primogems: 1/4th of a Gacha roll.
Granting additional rewards to players comes at the cost of free to miHoYo, with the only true downside of it all being the potential to miss out on a few sales of Primogems (which, as the revenue numbers have shown, would not be an inconvenience to the Gacha-giant). Since many fans of Genshin Impact come from other corners of the Gacha-world, expectations of immense anniversary rewards were already there. This dissonance by miHoYo is the leading cause of fan unrest and is only fuelling a fire that has been kindling for weeks.
Genshin Impact's innovation in the Gacha industry with its sprawling open-world and abundance of free-to-play content has led to it being one of the most successful games of its genre, but miHoYo's clear mishandling of their anniversary event has not sat well with fans of the game. With many claiming they're ready to quit, eager observers await a response from miHoYo.
