Liu Wei, better known to HoYoverse fans as Da Wei, is a billionaire – but that hasn’t stopped him from weeping like a baby on stage at a recent fanfest in Shanghai. While most company executives quietly pull the strings from their Ivory Towers, the boss of Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail is surprisingly forward-facing, interacting with fans and often appearing in livestreams for milestone updates.
However, he couldn’t hold back the tears when addressing criticism pointed at him and his company. “We did hear many comments,” he sniffled. “[People said me] and the Genshin Impact team are all useless. There are also many people who said the Genshin Impact team is arrogant and doesn’t listen to everyone’s opinion. But we’re just like you guys – we’re players, too. What you feel, we feel.”
Da Wei went on to explain that he doesn’t believe the most ferocious feedback comes from real fans, and that it needs to be filtered to find out how people really feel. His company can then take meaningful action.
The good news is that the game’s upcoming Natlan update looks like it’ll be a game changer for the title, incorporating many quality of life updates that will improve the experience for veterans and newcomers alike. Due out on 28th August, v5.0 will bring the next milestone moment in Genshin Impact’s story, adding an entire new open world region and cast of characters.
But while the new location itself looks interesting, it’s the quality of life improvements that are attracting the most praise. HoYoverse is enhancing many things: it’s making it easier to improve your stamina, faster to discover upgrade materials, and it’ll even let you easily level new characters to 60, so you don’t have to waste your time. Furthermore, a new material will allow you to custom create Artifacts, so you can get the stat buffs you want.
Furthermore, the developer is giving away a ton of free pulls with this update. Genshin Impact has been heavily criticised for its lack of generosity, especially when compared to rival HoYoverse gacha games like Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero. It seems the company has got the message – it’s even handing out a free five-star character!