Genshin Impact voice actors join others in commenting on the character designs of the upcoming Natlan’s Region

Genshin Impact is increasingly facing accusations of cultural appropriation and whitewashing, and some of its voice actors are calling on publisher HoYoverse to make changes.

Genshin Impact’s ever-expanding universe features stories and locations seemingly inspired by the real world. The similarities range from the geography of the game’s environments to architecture, mythology, music, food, and history in general. These connections have been extended to a new region, Natlan, which was featured in a trailer released last week.

The outcry from fans stems from many feeling that the cultures each character comes from are not accurately represented, including the fact that Mavukia, Kinich, and Ororon – who appear to be inspired by real-life deities like Mahuika of the Maori – are all white. This continues a trend in Genshin Impact that has players begging for proper representation.

Now some of the actors behind the faces of Genshin Impact have also spoken out. Albedo actor Khoi Dao published a statement on X/Twitter calling for changes to Genshin Impact.

“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, people are absolutely within their rights to demand better representation, ESPECIALLY when said game is clearly committed to a *global* audience.”

Dao continued: “I hope that you all continue to raise your voices and be listened to.”

Zeno Robinson, who voices the recently released Genshin Impact character Sethos, also mentioned HoYoverse, emphasizing the global desire for better representation.

“If even your core audience, the Chinese fans, are asking for better representation or characters with different shades of melanin, who are you making these characters for?” Robinson said.

Ọlọrun is the supreme deity of the Yoruba. You can even find this with a quick Google search.
This is unforgivable. Look at what an amazing job SMITE did with its own interpretation!!! IT’S NOT HARD!!! pic.twitter.com/LbP3nuT3MK

— Valeria Rodriguez 🍉 (@ElvisBadger) July 13, 2024

Sucrose actress Valeria Rodríguez also drew attention to the issue with a series of posts. One post compares Olorun’s appearance in Titan Forge Games’ MOBA title Smite to her appearance in Genshin Impact, saying: “Look at what an amazing job SMITE did with its own interpretation!!! IT’S NOT HARD!!!”

“It shouldn’t be a radical desire to recognize yourself in the media you consume,” Yoimiya actress Jenny Yokobori said in her own post.

Natlan has not been officially added to the Genshin Impact universe yet and does not have a release date. Since there is still time until the release, Cyno actor Alejandro Saab has taken note of the complaints surrounding Ororon and submitted a request to the HoYoverse team.

“I didn’t know THAT was the person he was based on…AH, that’s bad,” Saab said. “You still have time to fix it.”

There is so much beauty in the world – so many stories to tell or draw from, and if you don’t use that to its fullest, it ends up feeling disrespectful, even if that’s not the intention. I hope it’s possible to make changes during this phase.

— Allegra Clark (@SimplyAllegra) July 13, 2024

Anne Yatco, who plays Raiden Shogun from Genshin Impact, added: “I really hope that a video game company listens to its fanbase when there is legitimate criticism several years in a row about how it conducts its research and includes elements/aspects of other cultures.”

Genshin Impact was released in 2020 and has continued to build on its foundation with new locations and characters in the years since. HoYoverse has yet to respond to calls for better representation or the BoycottHYV movement.

IGN has asked for comment.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor to IGN. He began writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

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