Genshin Impact Developer Reversing Neuvillette’s ‘Bug Fix’ So Quickly Sparks More Criticism Over Natlan Character Designs
Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse has rolled back a “bug fix” affecting the character Neuvillette’s charged attacks and offered ten pulls as an apology to players.
The 5-Star Hydro Catalyst character Neuvillette, introduced in September 2023 with Genshin Impact Version 4.1, is known for his powerful yet balanced charged attacks. IGN’s Genshin Impact Wiki describes these attacks as making players feel like “Goku using his Kamehameha,” firing giant blue beams of Hydro damage at enemies in a line of sight.
However, PC players soon discovered they could spin around quickly and deal damage in a 360-degree area by using high-DPI settings on their mice. In response, HoYoverse attempted to fix this “bug” with the release of Version 4.8. The fix, however, led to significant backlash from players.
Players argued that the mechanic hadn’t been considered bugged for months since Neuvillette’s launch. Additionally, they felt that slowing Neuvillette down across all platforms was unnecessary.
In response to the outcry, HoYoverse issued a lengthy apology, announcing the rollback of the change and offering ten pulls as compensation. This is seen as extremely generous by HoYoverse’s standards, given that the game’s 3rd anniversary rewards were considered quite underwhelming by players.
Following the reveal of characters from the game’s next nation, Natlan, the game has been accused of cultural appropriation and whitewashing. Prominent English voice actors and players have criticised the game for not accurately representing the cultures it draws from.
Rollback: Fix to Abnormal Rotation Speed for Neuvillette’s Charged AttackDear Travelers,After the Version 4.8 update, we have been paying close attention to the feedback regarding the new version, of which includes the fix to the abnormal rotation speed for Neuvillette’s…
— Genshin Impact (@GenshinImpact) July 17, 2024
Players have noted HoYoverse’s swift action to address Neuvillette’s gameplay issue, which was resolved within 24 hours, contrasting with the ongoing silence regarding cultural representation concerns. The developer is yet to issue any official statement about it, as the demand for better representation continues to pick up pace, as a section of the playerbase intends to boycott the company until the issue is addressed. A Change.org petition demanding changes to the character designs has reached over 78,000 signatures at the time of writing.
Damn you’ll pay attention to the beyblade hydro dragon but not the cultural whitewashing of an entire nation that has garnered over 60k signs on a petition against your racism… https://t.co/eurvjw67YT
— tabachoyloka (@DeanVicedo) July 17, 2024
As happy as I am. Fuck you HoYoVerse. You clearly can hear our complaints; yet you chose to ignore the SWANASA when they ask for proper representation? #FixNatlan #BoyCottHYV https://t.co/AGbJQgaxPh
— daily neuvillette 🍉 (@neuvillettesday) July 17, 2024
some of you still aren’t seeing the issue and this right here proves it. hoyoverse can make people of color and have the right tools to do it, they simply don’t want to give that representation to playable characters but to the enemies instead. are y’all starting to see it now pic.twitter.com/19HbyRYbXs
— •ki•||ART📌|🍷bring me some wine🍷 (@ChuuyasKnife) July 17, 2024
oh so you are aware of natlan https://t.co/hR0EqW2yhZ pic.twitter.com/bua0ASaSR1
— bina (@lecchinos) July 17, 2024
Regarding Genshin Impact and other Hoyoverse games.I will not be giving Hoyoverse any more of my money. I urge others to do the same. Don’t let them turn a blind eye again. pic.twitter.com/1nEzbmvyrf
— Natasha (@kokonataaa) July 14, 2024
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Rayan Sayyed is a staff writer for IGN India with a primary focus on Asian entertainment spanning from anime, manga, games to films and dramas from the East. You can reach out to him at rayan_sayyed@ign.com, or find him on Twitter @rayanaver and Instagram @rayansayyed.
