In patch 3.0, the area Sumeru is introduced in Genshin Impact. The area is thought to be inspired by the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, and/or South Asia. So far, a few characters for this region have also been released and leaked, but these do not appeal to some fans at all – they claim they are not representative of the countries.
What is the situation? Genshin Impact includes various areas in its world Teyvat, based on different countries of our Earth along with their cultures. So far, the following three exist:
- Mondstadt: Germany
- Liyue: China
- Inazuma: Japan
Now, the Chinese developers Hoyoverse want to release the area Sumeru in the latest update, which is reportedly based on South Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and/or Egypt.
Appropriately, they have already posted 3 new playable characters and a trailer. However, some players now believe that the characters do not adequately represent these countries and cultures – they appear too white or pale. They even go so far as to say that the developers are racist.
Players criticize: Sumeru characters are not representative
What is the criticism? Fans believe that the characters, Tighnari, Collei, and Dori are all too pale. The outcry was especially loud regarding Tighnari, as he has a classic Arabic name (via Twitter).
Some artists have even given him a redesign and given him a darker skin tone (via Twitter).
People in these countries are thought to have darker skin, say the players, and they accuse the developers of being racists. So far, there are only 2 heroes with darker skin, and that is not enough among nearly 50 characters.
The characters in question look like this:
Genshin YouTuber engages in the racism debate
The YouTuber AsianGuyStream tried to portray the situation a bit differently in his video and explained to people where the “real issue” lies. He also stated that he doesn’t think the developers are racists, but simply culturally ignorant.
According to him, they do take many elements from culture and implement them in the game, but the characters do not look accordingly – this is harmful and hurts people from precisely such a region.
As an example, he mentions the characters from Liyue, who all look completely Chinese and represent Chinese culture quite well.
AsianGuyStream further expressed that one should imagine the developers not coming from China, but from America. If individual heroes from Liyue were now blond, had blue eyes, and were as pale as the Sumeru characters, this would certainly upset players as well.
People should put themselves in the position of those whose land, people, and culture are being represented, so that they may gain more understanding for those who feel hurt or attacked by it.
You can watch the full video here:
Why are there so few dark-skinned characters?
Fans speculate about why Genshin Impact does not bring characters with darker skin.
Three explanatory models have clearly emerged:
- In China, white skin is considered a beauty ideal and the developers want to make money with their game. Accordingly, dark-skinned heroes would mean less revenue since China makes the most profit (via Twitter).
- AsianGuyStream and other players say that China lives very isolated from other countries and hardly sees foreigners there. They simply do not know what such people look like.
- The developers are racist (via Twitter).
Leaks show even more characters from Sumeru
Will the players’ criticism be heard? That remains to be seen. In each region, about 15–20 characters usually appear, so there is still plenty of room for heroes of different skin tones.
There are even leaks from reliable leakers showing more upcoming figures: Almost all of them are white again, showing only a little diversity.
Leaks about characters and NPCs from Sumeru
Some NPCs have also been leaked:
What do the counterarguments say? Of course, there are also players who find the planned figures and their design great. They do not understand why so many fans complain about the skin color and advise them to wait for a while.
Furthermore, they label the critics as racists for attacking the white characters and insisting on wanting to see dark skin.
Others just shake their heads and do not understand the debate. They believe that it is just a game and a fantasy world. One should simply enjoy Genshin Impact.
The game has previously come under fire for using an indigenous people as a model for monsters. You can read all about this here: Genshin Impact: 57,000 call for ‘BoycottGenshin’ so loudly that it becomes a Twitter trend
