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There are several notable reasons as to why players are threatening to boycott Genshin Impact on Twitter with #BOYCOTTGENSHIN.
To preface this article is a disclaimer that neither the writer nor Sportskeeda is intentionally taking sides with this boycotting attempt. These five reasons will be listed so unaware gamers can understand as to why some players have been tweeting #BOYCOTTGENSHIN en masse as of late. Whether a player agrees with a claim or disagrees with it, is up to them.
Predictably, this means that some reasons might be on opposite sides of the spectrum in regards to the community's perception of the boycott. Likewise, some arguments might not be related to another one directly, but may still use the #BOYCOTTGENSHIN to send a message.
Five reasons why players are threatening to boycott Genshin Impact
#5 - Some are doing it ironically to mock others doing it legitimately
As it is with all hashtags on Twitter, there are bound to be disagreements. Given the nature of Twitter, it shouldn't be surprising to see some people would mock others for believing in something like #BOYCOTTGENSHIN.
These kinds of tweets take on a humorous tone and have overtaken the original message as of late. It's worth noting that a lot of the original tweets in support of #BOYCOTTGENSHIN have deleted their accounts. Nonetheless, these kinds of tweets should be apparent to any potential viewer.
#4 - Pedophilia claims
Whether it's accusations of grooming or complaining about the implicit claims of pedophilia, some proponents of #BOYCOTTGENSHIN aren't amused with Genshin Impact. In the tweet above, Ulfr, who looks like an adult, seems to be interested in Flora, who appears to be a child. Flora's age isn't known, so she could just be a really short adult, but one can never be quite sure in a game like Genshin Impact.
Flora was an adult in the beta version of Genshin Impact, and Ulfr's dialogue was the same. Nonetheless, some fans are creeped out by the implications of his statement. Genshin Impact also does have several playable characters some parts of the fanbase might claim are "lolis." However, most of the boycott attempts on Twitter do not focus on this aspect.
#3 - Indigenous people being represented as Hilichurls
Most people don't have issues with representing a culture in a video game in a positive light. However, some people would argue that the Hilichurls representing indigenous people are in poor taste. In-game, the Hilichurls are seen as unintelligent, savage creatures. In some ways, they're quite similar to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's bokoblins.
However, the main difference is that it seems like the former group is based on a real-life group. In a video tour, a clip of tribesmen dancing was used as a reference for the Hilichurl's dance routine. As a result, some people see this as insensitive. On the opposite side, some people say it's just a video game and that one shouldn't take it so seriously, especially when it isn't explicitly against indigenous people.
#2 - Dark-skinned representation
On a similar note is how the dark-skinned characters are portrayed within Genshin Impact. Genshin Impact currently has two dark-skinned playable characters known as Kaeya and Xinyan. Considering that they are described as "scary" and "exotic," some critics believe that it's a poor portrayal of what they represent. Likewise, they might argue that there is a severe lack of diversity in terms of skin color in Genshin Impact.
Most characters in Genshin Impact tend to have the same skin tone, regardless of whether they're playable or not. Unless they're a monster, they tend to look the same (according to critics). Critics, on the opposite side of the spectrum, would argue that reducing Kaeya and Xinyan's character to two simple words is grossly overlooking the more important parts of their characters.
#1 - Security concerns
The real reason for boycotting Genshin Impact actually has nothing to do with political correctness. It's more to try to get Genshin Impact to implement 2FA, given that the current security system is rather lackluster. Once someone has access to a person's account, there isn't much its original owner can do to stop them. Hence, some people are using the popular hashtag to raise awareness of a critical flaw.
2FA stands for two-factor authentication. Typically, it's a subsection of multi-factor authentication. Predictably, 2FA means that the person needs an additional login method to verify that they own the account.
Note: This article reflects the writer’s personal views.
