Why are People Getting Mad at Genshin Impact's Natlan Characters?

Genshin Impact has just released the first teaser trailer for the game's sixth region, Natlan, along with several key characters in the main story.

Far different from people's reaction from the game's previous region Fontaine, much of player feedback has been overwhelmingly negative. Why?

Genshin Impact, Hoyoverse, and Colorism

Much of the criticism around the new Natlan characters is directed at Genshin Impact developer Hoyoverse and the company's alleged colorism in character designs.

Many players pointed out how the game keeps releasing pale-skinned characters despite the Natlan region taking inspiration from Latin American, Hispanic, pre-colonization, and Aboriginal Australian cultures.

Some even accused the company of actively whitewashing what is supposed to be tan-skinned characters as it tries to excuse the design choices, claiming it is actually the players who decide the skin and colors of future characters.

It did not help that the issue has been mostly exclusive to Genshin Impact as other Hoyoverse games like Honkai: Star Rail and its newest title Zoneless Zen Zero.

Others even disputed excuses that the colorism was due to the company being based in China where lighter skin is supposed to be encouraged, comparing the game to other Chinese gacha titles like Reverse: 1999 able to portray characters of different ethnicities.

It has even come to the point that several English voice actors have joined the call, urging players to "keep making your voices heard, and I hope they listen."

Boycott Hoyoverse Movement

It has not been the first time Genshin Impact was involved in controversy. In fact, the game gets embroiled in community-wide criticisms almost every year it has been a usual occurrence in its online community.

Despite all the earlier calls (people have been criticizing Hoyoverse's colorism for years now), the community has rarely received recognition from the developers.

That is until user @sanestlynyfan proposed the idea of a company-wide boycott against Hoyoverse to make the developers listen to its players.

This means not spending money on the game or giving it positive exposure once new characters and events are announced in any of its games.

As of writing, the #BoycottHYV trend has already garnered over 45,000 posts as more people try to spread the advocacy to other communities.