How Genshin Impact Leaks are affecting the community

Aether (Image via Mihoyo)
Aether (Image via Mihoyo)

Genshin Impact has become an incredibly popular game, earning over a billion dollars in less than six months, and with that popularity has come leakers and dataminers trying to uncover as much information as they can.

This has polarized the fandom, as some push for more leaks and some would like leakers to stop altogether. Almost every player has seen at least one leak, and many future game events and characters have been spoiled by them. Do these leaks harm or help the community?


The positives of Genshin Impact leaks:

Bennett (Image via Mihoyo )
Bennett (Image via Mihoyo )

Free to play players get foresight:

Many Genshin Impact players are free to play, meaning they do not spend any money on the game. These players benefit the most from leaks as it allows them to selectively save and use the limited amount of primogems that they have. Without future knowledge of events, these players may make decisions that hurt them in the long run, and without Mihoyo releasing official roadmaps it is difficult for these players to save or spend.

Also read: Genshin Impact F2P Primogems guide: How to get over 10000 Primogems after 1.4 Update

Leaks keep old players hooked:

Players who have stuck with Genshin Impact since launch may be feeling fatigued, especially without knowing what they have to look forward to in the game's future. By viewing leaks, these players get to keep faith in the game and continue to play knowing that interesting content will continue to be released. Without knowing that there is something to look forward to, players could burn out and quit the game.


The negatives of Genshin Impact leaks:

Zhongli (Image via Mihoyo)
Zhongli (Image via Mihoyo)

They can provide outdated information:

Many players remember the release of Zhongli and the disaster that ensued on many social media platforms. Zhongli was released in a state that was very different from what leakers had provided, and players were outraged about this. This situation caused Mihoyo to make changes to not only Zhongli, but to the Geo element as a whole and was one of the biggest dramas in the Genshin Impact community.

Also read: Genshin Impact: List of all upcoming characters

They could cause Mihoyo to stop releasing any information:

Due to players constantly cracking the beta and datamining information from the game, Mihoyo may just shut their doors to outside and do the testing internally. This would cause hundreds of players to lose their chances at beta testing new regions, along with possibly even affecting huge Genshin Impact content creators. If this occurs, players may be getting even less information than ever.


What should be done about Genshin Impact leaks?

If Mihoyo wishes to stop leaks, they must release information more frequently to provide the playerbase with the information they want. Leaks only serve to keep players informed about future information, so if Mihoyo wants Genshin Impact leaks to stop, they should release a roadmap of future content, more frequent streams, and other teasers to keep players excited. Connecting with the community is one of the most powerful things a game studio can do, and if Genshin Impact can harness this, the game may be even more popular. If players wish to read a possible roadmap, this article provides one.

Quick Links