Yesterday, Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse announced that the latest update for their open world RPG would be delayed, a first for a live service game that’s been reliably consistent for the past two years. The official Twitter account said that version 2.7 would be postponed because of “project progress,” and that more information about the new date, content adjustments, and compensation would eventually be announced.
The studio has managed to abide by every official release date for a remarkable stretch of time, so many fans believe that the delay speaks to the severity of the government-mandated lockdowns in Shanghai, China. Several Genshin players responded to the announcement by linking a tweet about the supply chain issues. The relative patience of the community was notable because Genshin players are known to make controversies out of very small perceived slights such as the low amount of anniversary rewards (which led to no fewer than ten unrelated games being review bombed by angry Genshin players).
Most of the response on Twitter has been sympathetic. Several players replied that they were willing to wait. Genshin streamers expressed concerns for the employees’ safety, wished them well, and hoped that their circumstances would improve. Some players reminded the community that the developers wellbeing was more important than banners or compensation currency (HoYoverse has been giving out special currency for temporarily shutting down features in its housing system). Even notorious leakers like Lumie (who had to remake their account to avoid official scrutiny) reminded the community that the company “has no control over real life events.”
Reddit was significantly more concerned about how much compensation would result from the delay. Compensation is a common practice in gacha games where companies will distribute free premium currency as an ‘apology’ for regularly scheduled maintenance or emergency fixes. They’re not actual apologies, but currency windfalls that players anticipate in order to build their savings stash. Several players pointed out that content delays meant that they have more time to save up for the gacha characters that they want to pull for. Some Reddit users were sympathetic, however, particularly one commenter who pointed out that Genshin has one of the fastest update cycles compared to other gacha games. Even the players who want a delay seem to believe that HoYoverse will be resuming its regular schedule fairly soon.
As one Reddit user wisely pointed out: “Health before wealth.”