Summary
- Natlan characters in
Genshin Impact
lack skin tone diversity that represents their cultural inspirations. - HoYoverse has been criticized for whitewashing playable characters despite allegedly changing NPC skin tones.
- The leak revealing a white NPC’s skin tone change hints at possible attempts by HoYoverse to address diversity concerns.
A new Genshin Impact 5.0 leak has proved that developer HoYoverse is capable of changing skin tones on their characters, but seemingly chooses not to do so when it comes to playable units. Since the reveal of the first Natlan characters, the developer and its games are under pressure from the community, which claims it is whitewashing characters in Genshin Impact. The company is accused of appropriating names and concepts from cultures mainly composed of people of color, such as western African and South American cultures, but not making the characters themselves people of color.
The criticism and boycott are still occurring from a portion of the community, and it seems HoYoverse has taken notice of it. According to information provided by the leaker known as Miruko, which was shared in a post tagged as “Sus” on Reddit, a white NPC from Natlan had their skin changed into a darker tone. If the leak is true, it shows that the developer does know how to change a character’s skin tone in Genshin Impact, but may actively choose to ignore the pleas of the community when it comes to playable characters.
Natlan Characters In Genshin Impact Have Not Had Skin Tone Changes Announced
Players Call For Characters Like Mualani & Kinich To Have Darker Skin
It is uncertain exactly why this particular NPC had their skin tone changed – rumors are that HoYoverse is trying to bring more racial diversity and representation into the game, but is doing so by ignoring playable characters. Ever since the reveal, players have been requesting skin tone changes for characters like Mualani and Kinich, who are notably white while representing people from cultures characterized by people of color. The recent announcement of the rest of the Natlan characters in Genshin Impact only sheds more light on the issue.
“The game has been struggling with a lack of diversity for years.”
HoYoverse has already proven that it is capable of designing characters that represent people of color multiple times before. The 4-star character Xinyan is a great example of this, while other NPCs from Honkai: Star Rail, its popular turn-based RPG, also boast great and racially diverse designs. However, this is not applied to the playable roster, for some reason. The release of Sumeru and its characters and Genshin Impact spurred similar commotion back in 2022, but the criticism eventually came to a halt – even with the problem never really being fixed.
This time around, players expect that an active boycott could make a difference, showing HoYoverse they are unsatisfied with the company’s portrayal of the various people and cultures of the world. So far, the company has not publicly addressed the concerns of players but seems to be taking action to bring wider representation, though through unsatisfactory methods. Racially diverse NPCs, but the lack of racially diverse playable characters can make people of color feel like secondary characters outside of Genshin Impact, too.
The leak should be taken with a grain of salt, as the skin tone may have not changed at all, and the veracity of the image could not be confirmed. Additionally, the leak could still be subject to further changes. While the new Nation of Pyro promises great innovations when it comes to combat and exploration, it does seem like it will still falter when it comes to catering to a global audience. More details about Natlan will be revealed during the Genshin Impact 5.0 livestream, scheduled to occur in mid-August.
Source: Reddit