Yesterday, Genshin Impact Developer HoYoverse announced that the latest update for their open-world role-playing game would be delayed, a first for a live-service game that has been reliably consistent over the past two years. The official Twitter account called that version 2.7 would be delayed due to “project progress” and that finally more information would be announced about the new date, content adjustments and compensation.
The studio has managed to meet every official release date for a remarkable amount of time, leading many fans to believe the delay is a credit Severity of government-enacted lockdowns in Shanghai, China. Several genshin Players responded to the announcement by linking a tweet about supply chain issues. The relative patience of the community was remarkable because genshin Players have been known to make controversies out of very small perceived slights, such as the low amount of Anniversary Rewards (which lead to no less than ten unrelated games bombarded with criticism
Most reactions on Twitter have been benevolent. Multiple players answered that they were willing to wait. genshin streamers expressed concern for the safety of employees, wished them welland hoped that their circumstances would improve. Some players reminded the community that developer welfare is more important than banners or reward currency (HoYOverse issued special currency for temporarily shutting down features in its housing system). Even notorious leaks like Lumie (who had to re-create his account to avoid official scrutiny) reminded the community that the company “has no control over real-life events.”
Reddit was clearly more concerned how much compensation would result from the delay. Compensation is a common practice among gacha games, with companies handing out free premium currency as an “excuse” for regularly scheduled maintenance or emergency repairs. They aren’t really excuses, but rather windfalls that players count on to build their savings. Several players pointed out that content delays mean they have more time to save up for the gacha characters they want to draw. However, some Reddit users were particularly sympathetic a commenter
As a Reddit user wisely pointed out: “Health before wealth.”
