Genshin Impact updates 4 character skins to make them less revealing

By Austin Wood
published

Genshin Impact is getting less revealing skins but they're optional outside China

Genshin Impact
(Image credit: MiHoYo)

Genshin Impact is updating the default outfits for Jean, Amber, Rosaria, and Mona to make them less revealing, but the new outfits will be optional for players outside China.

Developer MiHoYo briefly explained the updated skins in a blog post. These alternate outfits will soon be released globally, and they're already live in the Chinese version of Genshin Impact, per the developer's BiliBili post (auto-translated to English). Chinese players will be given 1,200 Primogems as compensation, but since global players will still be able to use the original outfits and are essentially just getting free variant skins, players in other regions won't receive any free Primogems. 

MiHoYo's Chinese post also mentions "the performance of the character in a specific perspective in flight," which is a thinly veiled way to say that character models now fade out if you look up a character's skirt while gliding. Global players quickly deduced that this change has only been applied to the Chinese version of the game as well.

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Translations of MiHoYo's BiliBili post suggest these changes were made in response to new policies and restrictions set by the Chinese government. In September 2021, South China Morning Post reported on new "red lines" that Chinese game developers will need to follow, and according to reporter Josh Ye, Genshin Impact's anemo archon, Venti, was directly referenced in an official memo as an example of a character that conflicts with these guidelines – in this case, for appearing too feminine. It doesn't seem like a coincidence that the replies to MiHoYo's Chinese post are largely supportive, with many players acknowledging that MiHoYo's hand was forced. 

Given China's new restrictions, the specific elements which were changed with these four skins, and the aforementioned reference to Venti, it's possible that more Genshin Impact characters will have their default outfits updated in the future. The newly released character Shenhe, for instance, has a fairly revealing outfit with straight-up hip windows, and it doesn't seem like that kind of fashion will fly. We've reached out to MiHoYo for more information. 

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Austin Wood
Austin Wood

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.