'Genshin Impact' Review Bombed Over Lackluster Anniversary Event

The drama between the “Genshin Impact” community and miHoYo has reached a new peak after angry fans bombed the game with negative reviews on Google Play Store due to its disappointing anniversary rewards.

As of writing, “Genshin Impact’s” rating on Google’s app store has plummeted to 2.4 stars out of 5 after a massive wave of negative reviews. Disgruntled fans stormed the app page and left 1-star reviews to express their dismay over “Genshin Impact’s” terrible first anniversary rewards and events as well as miHoYo’s radio silence amid the community’s outrage.

The game is currently celebrating its first full year since release with a new story-driven, in-game event and a week-long log-in event that will give players a total of 10 Intertwined Fates along with negligible in-game resources. MiHoYo also hosted a number of real-life events ranging from art contests to cosplay showcases that would reward only the winners.

Fans were outraged after they found out that “Genshin Impact’s” first anniversary would have very little in terms of free item giveaways, with the developers instead opting to host contests instead of just celebrating the anniversary with the entire fanbase. Players were disheartened when they discovered that miHoYo would be the one who would benefit from freebies during the anniversary and not them.

This controversy caused a storm at the official “Genshin Impact” subreddit. Some users complained that they felt neglected and that miHoYo was out of touch with the community, while others said they were willing to stop playing the game outright.

Users at the game’s official Discord server flooded chat channels with stickers of Qiqi, one of the playable characters, laying on the floor to show their discontent with the current events and miHoYo’s handling of the anniversary situation.

Oddly enough, “Genshin Impact’s” Bilibili Game page shows that it has an approximate user rating of 2.3 stars, but the actual number indicated a rating of 4.9. The Chinese fanbase has been very vocal about the game, and their voice once forced miHoYo to make drastic changes to Zhongli and the Geo element itself. Further outrage from Chinese fans may make miHoYo spring into action once again.

The developers have gone under the radar in the past few weeks, but they’re expected to break their silence this Sunday during a scheduled devstream.