Genshin Impact’s own voice actors condemn MiHoYo’s “whitewashing” of new character designs

Genshin Impact’s own voice actors have publicly denounced developer MiHoYo, questioning “the conduct of its research and the inclusion of elements/aspects of other cultures.”

While all of Genshin Impact’s regions are heavily influenced by real-world locations, its fans and the English voice cast have criticized MiHoYo’s design choices for the upcoming Natlan region. Although it is supposedly inspired by African, Latin American, and Australasian countries, its character design does not reflect the diversity of real-world countries.

“When a game draws so heavily on real-world cultures and bases a character on the supreme deity of the Yoruba religion, and that character ends up looking like the pale Sasuke Batman, then people are absolutely within their rights to demand better representation, ESPECIALLY when the game is clearly committed to a *global* audience,” said Albedo’s voice actor Khoi Dao.

“I hope you all continue to make your voices heard and I hope you are listened to.”

“I really hope that a video game company listens to its fan base when there is legitimate criticism several years in a row about how it has conducted its research and included elements/aspects of other cultures,” says Anne Yatco, who voices Raiden Shogun.

Valeria Rodríguez, who voices Sucrose, added: “I could keep quiet about this and protect myself, but we people of color don’t always have to stay quiet and allow others to bullshit us and disrespect us so that we can continue to progress only half as fast as our white counterparts.”

“If you’re going to use real-world deities, RESPECT them. If you’re going to base things on real-world cultures, RESPECT THAT. I don’t have a problem with things being inspired by different cultures – that’s great. Representation is great. But at least do a little research and show a little cultural appreciation.”

Rodríguez then compared the depiction of the “whitewashed” Yoruba supreme deity Olorun in Genshin Impact to the depiction of the same deity in Smite. Interestingly, the deity’s name was also changed to “Ororon” in English, although he is correctly called “Olorun” in most other languages.

MiHoYo has not yet publicly responded to the uproar.