In a rare interview, Genshin Impact developer Hoyoverse recently said that it's hesitant to add more endgame content similar to the Spiral Abyss dungeon because "it might end up creating excessive anxiety" for players. This single comment to GameSpot has overshadowed basically everything else in the interview because it explicitly articulates what the game's updates have been implicitly saying for years. Genshin will never be a super difficult game, and Hoyoverse will seemingly always prioritize the casual player's experience, favoring approachable and varied content over truly demanding challenges. As a result, we probably aren't getting any combat gauntlets like the Spiral Abyss for a long time – if ever.
This update has come as no surprise to many players and was even good news for some, but it also disappointed a fair few fans who've been hoping for more Abyss-grade content. Granted, the blowback we've seen has come from just a fraction of the Western community, which is itself a fraction of Genshin's global audience. Data from countless gachas, MMOs, and other games shows that only a small portion of most player bases will regularly engage with pinnacle endgame content, and though we have limited info to work with here, that's likely especially true for an easygoing mass-market hit like Genshin. Of course, that won't ease the frustrations of that small but dedicated portion of players, hence the vocal minority in this fallout.
The Genshin community can be roughly split into two camps. One side would likely jump for joy if Genshin Impact turned into Elden Ring tomorrow, packed with bosses taking names. The other is quite happy with the comfy, genre-hopping slice-of-life JRPG that they know and love. Hoyoverse's comments on endgame content have highlighted and widened this divide, which says a lot about Genshin Impact as an experience and as a hobby, but I think there's room for compromise between the two sides.
Why Genshin Impact players want more endgame content
Hoyoverse was quick to note that instead of permanent combat-focused activities, it's looking to add "various types of gameplay" that mesh with the game's open world. It highlighted the Genius Invokation card game planned for update 3.3 as a topical example of new content for people to play in the long-term. Full disclaimer: I frickin' love card games so I'm genuinely excited for this, but realize it isn't what a lot of people were hoping for - especially the folks rankled by this endgame news. The same is true of Genshin's Animal Crossing-like Teapot system, which I know many players have hardly touched despite how old it is and how regularly it's updated. This helps demonstrate why certain players want a different kind of experience from Genshin.
Second disclaimer: I am a dirty min-max theorycrafter in many of the games I play, and that goes triple for Genshin. I'm a numbers man, a combat junkie, and an artifact grinder. As an AR 60 endgame goblin, I would love nothing more than to see harder combat challenges added to the game. It is embarrassingly fun to spend hours making my favorite characters as strong as they can be. Seeing my anime babies kick 12.3% more ass fills me with pride and satisfaction rivaling a parent watching their child graduate. I am firmly in the crowd that lives in the Spiral Abyss. I absolutely want more difficult challenges to measure my characters against. I want more stuff to fight. The rewards attached aren't a priority; just give me a challenge. Shut up and kick my ass.
Combat is not a minor component of Genshin. It's a central part of the game. The elemental reaction system is one of Genshin's biggest draws, and much of the critical path involves mandatory fights. Almost all of the current repeatable content and ongoing progression is about making your characters stronger in combat. A lack of challenging endgame hasn't stopped Genshin Impact from becoming a record-setting market leader, and focusing on the casual experience was undoubtedly a major part of its success, but that doesn't mean there's no demand for this kind of content.
I don't fully buy into the argument that player anxiety is the primary concern here – as a gacha game, Genshin Impact monetizes anxiety
Genshin is fundamentally a laid-back gacha game, but its rock-solid combat mechanics attracted a much wider range of players than most gachas can even dream of. An overwhelming majority of Genshin fans play it on their phone and without investing a ton of time, money, or effort, but the game's also fun and deep enough to hook hardcore RPG nuts like me for hours. Lots of those people want more reasons to play the game, even if it's not exactly more of the Abyss. Just something. Something to overcome, a compelling reason to grind, a reason to spend Wishes on stronger weapons and characters. They desperately want the game to be something that it really isn't, was apparently never meant to be, and hasn't been for two years. So as they stare down a fat 'No endgame' from Hoyoverse, their patience runs thin and they get bummed out.
Why wouldn't Hoyoverse add more endgame combat?
I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for permanent, combat-focused content to be added to Genshin. It's something I like about the game, and I think that if Hoyoverse made just one of the many well-received battle events a permanent addition, it could resolve a lot of this frustration by giving goblins like me a new punching bag to geek out over. But that's easy for me to say. While I don't fully buy into the argument that player anxiety is the primary concern here – as a gacha game, Genshin Impact monetizes anxiety – there are legitimate reasons to not want more endgame combat challenges.
There's a difference between not wanting to play something and not wanting it added to the game at all
If you sighed your lungs empty when Genius Invokation was revealed, well, that's how a lot of Genshin players react to difficult fights. I clear the Spiral Abyss dozens of time every rotation to test different teams, but a sizable chunk of players think it's a chore and either dread running it or don't even try. The game's Twitter and Reddit communities are filled with posts from players who truly don't get why people were upset by Hoyoverse's comments. They don't want big challenges from their games, so given the choice, they'd rather have more of the content that they do like.
There is some legitimacy to the idea that an increase in content that is (or is perceived to be) very demanding or punishing could turn some current or prospective players away, and there are definitely more of those players in Genshin than there are endgame diehards. Just as hardcore fans saw Hoyoverse's comments and thought, "Well, this game isn't giving me the experience I want," there's a fair argument to be made that people could look at Spiral Abyss 2.0 and feel that the direction the game's taking isn't for them.
However, there's a difference between not wanting to play something and not wanting it added to the game at all. The existence of such challenges shouldn't take away from the varied experiences that Hoyoverse highlighted in its statement. It's also important to remember that the addition of more endgame combat could attract players who weren't sold on the game before, though that demographic will likely never match the casual mobile player base.
The discourse and disappointment here is the result of clashing preferences magnified by the extremes of a global player base with dramatically different expectations and play patterns. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with those preferences because there's no wrong way to play this or any game as long as you enjoy it. At the same time, it's not that Genshin can't have content unless every single user is on board with it. Some people don't care about the Teapot, character hangouts, or the upcoming card game, but Genshin can still have them for the people who want and enjoy them. The same could be said for endgame combat. Why not add it for the people who want it, even if it's just optional level scaling or a permanent version of an existing event?
That's where I'm at with all this. I reckon greasing the wheels a tiny bit – a crumb of endgame combat, as a treat – could make a big difference for some people without derailing anyone's fun. But I do understand why a company wouldn't make significant development decisions based on a small part of its audience. Adding content to a game is always more complex than it sounds, so while it's easy to assume that the devs at Hoyoverse can just do this and change that, any permanent new content will affect the game on multiple levels. Hoyoverse could most certainly create this stuff if it wanted to, but it's never good to give feedback or suggestions with the tone of 'just do the thing,' because in game dev the thing almost always takes some serious doing. But while I made peace with Genshin's casual vibe long ago, I do hope Hoyoverse releases something that provides a decent middle ground for both ends of the player base.
