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this product has been released, it remains under active development - information may change frequently and could be outdated or irrelevant.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
Publishers
China, Overseas (2020-2021)	miHoYo
Overseas (2021-present)	HoYoverse
Engines
	Unity 2017
Release dates
Windows	September 28, 2020
Reception
Metacritic	84
OpenCritic	80
IGDB	83
Taxonomy
Monetization	Free-to-play, Subscription
Microtransactions	Cosmetic, Currency, Infinite spend, Free-to-grind, Loot box, Time-limited
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 open world RPG game developed and published by miHoYo.

It was released worldwide on September 28, 2020. Since December 2021, miHoYo's subsidiary Cognosphere took over as the publisher of the game outside of China.

General information

Official forums

Official Discord server

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Official website		Global server
Official website		Chinese server Download version
Official website		Chinese server Cloud version
Epic Games Store		Global server

Requires a HoYoverse account on the Global server and a MiHoYo account on the Chinese server.

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

The game is also downloadable on PC via Google Play on the Global server and Bilibili Games on the Chinese server (which doesn't support cross-platform on the latter platform).

All versions require a constant internet connection for all game modes.

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
Cosmetic	Outfits for 5-star characters cost Genesis Crystals. Outfits for 4-star characters are initially available as event rewards (along with the character), then cost Genesis Crystals after the event. Two new outfits are added every six months.
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 events and 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	Limited-time gacha "banners" rotate every three weeks, offering the choice of 2 banner-exclusive 5-star characters alongside three rate-boosted 4-star characters. Banner-exclusive 5-star characters repeat every few months. New 4-star characters are initially exclusive to the limited-time banners, then become available in the permanent gacha banner in the following version.

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 the console and 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		Available as an in-game graphics option since v4.4 update. Previously only available by using -popupwindow parameter.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, and 16x (setting added in Version 2.2)
Anti-aliasing (AA)		None, SMAA, and SSAA via Render Resolution setting (with 1.1x, 1.2x, 1.3x, 1.4x, 1.5x multipliers)
High-fidelity upscaling		FSR 2.0
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS		Choice between 30, 45, and 60 FPS caps.
120+ FPS		Removed after beta. When Vsync is disabled, only splash and warning screens prior to the title screen run at an unlocked framerate. FPS can be unlocked using third-party tool. See Unlocking the Frame rate (FPS).
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Ray tracing (RT)

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

Unlocking the Frame rate (FPS)

Genshin Impact FPS Unlocker

Using such a third party application to modify even a single byte in the game memory could be a violation of the game's Terms of Service. Still, after more than two years this has never been punished. Download the latest version of Genshin Impact FPS Unlocker. Make sure you have the Visual C++ 2019 Redistributable (x64) and .NET Framework 4.8 installed. The Unlocker will generate a Config file on the directory it is running from, so it is recommended to put the file inside a folder before running. Run the unlocker as administrator, then, open the game. This only needs to be done once in order for the tool to get the game path and generate a config file. After the config file is generated, use the unlocker to launch the game. You can change the desired FPS Limit value by either dragging the slider or inputting an exact number of your choice in the UI.

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 75% lower than Horizontal (50% in Aimed Shot Mode), 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". Alternatively, the game can be forced to run on "Mobile mode" with UI optimized for mobile. See Limited touchscreen support.
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		DualShock 4, DualSense, DualSense Edge Touchpad is used for text chat in co-op. DualSense support was added since v2.2 update, but requires the controller to be connected before starting the game.
PlayStation button prompts
Light bar support
Adaptive trigger support		DualSense Edge not supported. Wired only.
DualSense haptic feedback support		Requires manual configuration on the controller's audio device. Wired only.
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. Works fine with 5.1 and 7.1 too.
Subtitles		Key story sequences only, cannot be disabled.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Partly available since the v4.1 update, named Mute When Minimized. When playing in windowed mode (including borderless fullscreen windowed), the game will not mute itself when losing focus, instead only when explicitly minimized. It is otherwise somewhat functional with the default fullscreen mode, since it will forcefully minimize itself when losing focus.
Royalty free audio		All music used in this game is produced by HOYO-MiX, a studio under miHoYo. Officially their usage are only permitted for non-commercial personal use. However there have been no known instances of content creators receiving DMCA strikes for using their music in monetized videos and streams,[citation needed] with exception to unreleased music leaked from the game's closed beta sessions.

Localizations

Language settings

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Indonesian
Italian				Added in the v3.3 update.
Japanese
Korean
Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Latin American Spanish
Thai
Turkish				Added in the v3.3 update.
Vietnamese

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play			Use NucleusCoop
LAN play
Online play		1-4	1 player in Single player mode 4 players in 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.

Stuttering

Run the game in exclusive fullscreen mode
Navigate to <path-to-game>\Genshin Impact game Make a shortcut to GenshinImpact.exe with parameters -screen-fullscreen 1 -window-mode exclusive.

Check for network devices anomalies

Disable Corsair's iCUE utility

G-Sync / Variable Refresh Rate Does Not Work

Run the game in exclusive fullscreen mode [See: #Stuttering for details]

Initial game load (after the log in screen) breaks G-Sync / VRR, requiring a refocus of the game window to work properly again (Alt+Tab or Alt+Enter). Menus in game that open an in game web browser (Notices, Special Event, Version Highlights, Survey, Wish History) also break G-Sync / VRR, requiring a refocus of the game window to work properly again. Inconsistent behavior with Alt+Tab ↹ that can sometimes result in the game freezing upon refocus.

Use Special K to force proper DXGI Flip Model Support

Modifying game memory with an unauthorized third party application is a violation of the game's Terms of Service, use Special K at your own risk. Global injector must be used as the anti-cheat removes extraneous DLLs from the game directory on startup. Game must be added to the Special K Frontend manually. Does not have issues with G-Sync / VRR breaking from initial load or menus that use an in game web browser. Behavior with exclusive fullscreen is inconsistent, sometimes resulting in the game freezing upon launch or Alt+Tab ↹. Would recommend launching the game with no additional launch arguments.

Limited touchscreen support

Run the game on mobile mode instead

Navigate to <path-to-game>\Genshin Impact game Make a shortcut to GenshinImpact.exe with parameters use_mobile_platform -is_cloud 1 -platform_type CLOUD_THIRD_PARTY_MOBILE. use_mobile_platform does not start with -. This appears to be the same implementation used in GeForce Now version of the game when streamed via their mobile app. Input mode in the game's settings will display as "Keyboard". You will still be able to change it to "Controller" if you have a controller connected, but changing it back to "Keyboard" will not restore the mobile UI. You will have to restart the game with the required parameters instead. Similar with controller, simultaneous KB/M and touch inputs are not supported. However you can type with a keyboard on any text inputs, such as chat.

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	10, 11
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i5 4th Gen or equivalent	Intel Core i7 7th Gen or higher
System memory (RAM)	8 GB	16 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	150 GB	150 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GT 1030 Intel UHD Graphics 630 DirectX 11 compatible	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB of VRAM DirectX 11 compatible

A 64-bit operating system is required.

Windows 10 dev builds are currently not supported.

Graphics card AMD Radeon R7 200 Series or below, explicitly requires Windows 10 64-bit or above.