Genshin Impact

Although this product has been released, it remains under active development - information may change frequently and could be outdated or irrelevant.

Genshin Impact

Developers
	miHoYo
Engines
	Unity 2017
Release dates
Windows	September 28, 2020
Reception
Metacritic	84
OpenCritic	80
IGDB	83
Taxonomy
Monetization	Free-to-play, Subscription
Microtransactions	Currency, Loot box
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Open world, RPG
Art styles	Anime
Themes	Fantasy

Warnings

This game requires a constant internet connection for all game modes.

Genshin Impact is a singleplayer and multiplayer third-person action, open world and RPG game.

General information

Official forums

Official Discord server

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Official website		Official Global server.
Official website		Official China server
Epic Games Store

Requires a miHoYo account.

Game installs proprietary anti-cheat driver (mhyprot2.sys) that runs along with the game.

Monetization

Type	Notes
Free-to-play	Game is free-to-play with microtransactions in the form of currency purchases.
Subscription	Players can purchase a subscription called the Blessing of the Welkin Moon, which grants 300 Genesis Crystals upon purchase, and also gives 90 Primogems every day the player logs in. The Blessing can be purchased multiple times, each time granting 300 Primogems and extending the duration of the subscription by 30 days up to 180 days.

Microtransactions

Type	Notes
Currency	Real money is used to purchase Genesis Crystals, which can be converted to Primogems at a 1-to-1 rate or used to purchase item bundles in the in-game shop. Primogems are used to purchase Fates, which are then used to purchase gacha rolls, which is the only way to obtain the vast majority of characters in the game.
Free-to-grind	Players can earn Primogems through completing daily quests, obtaining achievements, and opening chests found throughout the world, among other methods. Players also directly earn Fates through ascending characters and grinding the free battle pass.
Loot box	New characters and weapons can be obtained through a gacha system using Fates to purchase rolls.
Time-limited	There is one limited-time gacha "banner" (referring to the promotional image used for the gacha) in the game, offering a 5-star character only available in that banner along with several non-limited 4-star characters which have their drop rate increased. The banners currently cycle twice every month.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\miHoYo\Genshin Impact

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\miHoYo\Genshin Impact

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher

Cross-save is available with mobile versions of the game.

Video

Graphics options

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor		[citation needed]
Ultra-widescreen		UI is anchored to use the entire screen, and doesn't have dead-zone/centering options. 31:9 resolutions have issues at the start of the game when entering the name, the confirm button won't be visible. Change the resolution to fix this.[citation needed]
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		May be too low for some people to play without suffering simulation sickness.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Add -popupwindow to the launch options.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)		None, SMAA, TAA, and SSAA via Render Resolution setting (with 1.1x, 1.2x, 1.3x, 1.4x, 1.5x multipliers)
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS		Choice between 30 and 60 FPS cap.
120+ FPS		When Vsync is disabled, only splash and warning screens prior to the title screen run at an unlocked framerate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

The game engine may allow for manual configuration of the game via its variables. See the Unity page for more details.

Input

Keyboard and mouse control options

Controller options

Other options

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Fixed as of Version 1.1. Mouse left and right buttons are hard mapped to attack and dash respectively. (You get an "error" notification when trying to change the mapping)
Mouse acceleration		Mouse smoothing is force enabled, alongside the vertical and horizontal mouse sensitivity being different.
Mouse sensitivity		Separate sliders for "Camera Sensitivity" and "Camera Sensitivity (Aimed Shot Mode)" are available. Vertical Sensitivity is 50% lower than Horizontal, with no option to change.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Touchscreen optimised		Buttons can be tapped but no left stick for movement. Not working in "Console mode".
Controller
Controller support		Switching to "Controller" will change the game to "Console mode" with UI optimized for console.
Full controller support		The title screen only supports keyboard input, and a keyboard is required to input main character's name.
Controller remapping		Added in Version 1.1 update. Only the face buttons and the rightmost shoulder buttons can be remapped. Japanese-style layout is used for "Confirm" and "Cancel" buttons by default (O/B to select and X/A to cancel), but can be changed as of Version 1.1. Using Aimed Shot requires the usage of either the Elemental Skill or Normal Attack Button, which makes manual aiming awkward when mapping those actions to the Face Buttons.
Controller sensitivity		Separate sliders for "Camera Sensitivity" and "Camera Sensitivity (Aimed Shot Mode)" are available. Vertical Sensitivity is 50% lower than Horizontal, with no option to change.
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		Touchpad is used for text chat in co-op.
PlayStation button prompts
Light bar support
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes	, Wired, Wireless (Bluetooth)

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging		While hotplugging is possible, manually setting the control type option to "Controller" will be needed after plugging in.
Haptic feedback		Added in version 1.2
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M		Only one control method can be used. Changing the "Control Type" setting to an input method not currently connected requires restarting.

• 

  Controller bindings (DualShock 4 layout)

• 

  Controller bindings (Xbox layout)

Audio

Audio settings

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Sliders for Master, Music, Dialogue, and SFX. Can be set in intervals of 1, from 0-10.
Surround sound		Supports up to 6.0.
Subtitles		Key story sequences only, cannot be disabled.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language settings

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Japanese
Korean
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Brazilian Portuguese
French
German
Spanish
Latin American Spanish
Russian
Thai
Vietnamese
Indonesian

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play
Online play		4	Co-op Available after reaching Adventure Rank 16.
Asynchronous multiplayer

Issues fixed

Installer will not open

Extract the launcher file
Download the installer. Use an application like 7-Zip and extract the installer. Within the subfolder extract the file app.7z. Run launcher.exe.

(Macbook only) Disable graphics card temporarily
Open Device Manager and disable graphics card. Download the installer and install the game. Reenable graphics card in Device Manager. Fix may need to be applied every time the game is launched.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Input	Rewired

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7 SP1, 8.1, 10
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i5 or equivalent	Intel Core i7 or higher
System memory (RAM)	8 GB	16 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	35 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 DirectX 11 compatible	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB of VRAM

A 64-bit operating system is required.

Windows 10 dev builds are currently not supported.