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Genshin Impact Studio Head Addresses Early Development Woes, Zelda Plagiarism Accusations

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
Liu "Dawei" Wei, the co-founder and current president of miHoYo, discussed the challenges the Genshin Impact developers faced during the early conception of the game.
At Genshin Impact FES 2023 in Shanghai, China, Wei went over the early development history of the game. Wei acknowledged that if miHoYo -- which was a small team filled with young but inexperienced developers at the time -- knew how difficult developing Genshin Impact would be back when the project began in 2017, the studio would have likely given up on it. The lack of an engine and inexperience in creating an open-world game made the development of Genshin Impact more difficult than the studio anticipated.



However, the development team was rejuvenated after the completion of Mondstadt in 2019. Unfortunately, the response toward the closed beta caused some to see the game as a ripoff of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Although Wei didn't name Breath of the Wild in his speech, the accusation of Genshin Impact plagiarising Zelda was a popular criticism. One fan even smashed their PlayStation 4 console to protest the release of the game.




The accusations of plagiarism took a heavy toll on the development team. According to Wei, many of his colleagues were crying and saying "Why is this happening?" and "What did we do wrong?" "Let's prove ourselves," Wei said. "Let's make the part of Genshin that everyone didn't see!" The establishment of Liyue in Feb. 2020 gave players a better understanding of what miHoYo was building with Genshing Impact, leading to a more positive perception of the game.
Three years after its release on Sept. 28, 2020, Genshin Impact continues to dominate mobile sales charts worldwide. The critical and commercial success of Genshin Impact paved the way for Honkai: Star Rail, a sci-fi open-world role-playing game that took inspiration from its predecessor. Honkai: Star Rail is currently available on PC and mobile, with a PS4 and PS5 port in the works.
elua_genshin_impact_zelda_botw.jpg

 
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Nankatsu

Member
Genshin is a printing money machine. Sure the game drinks a lot of inspiration from Zelda: BotW and quite possible TotK in the near future, but that's good inspiration.

They extracted that and gave it their on twist. Nothing wrong with that.

Sure it's a gacha game and not everybody likes that, but we can't deny Mihoyo was extremely clever with their approach/plan.
 
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supernova8

Banned
Crocodile tears fool nobody, Genshin was, is, and always be a poor man's BOTW. Sure they have added a lot of stuff since launch but the base game and mechanics have BOTW written all over them.



I mean come on.... only a Chinese company (untouchable by Western/Japanese laws and authorities and pretty much encouraged by the Chinese government) would be so blatant.

They didn't come up with any of that stuff by themselves.
Get Out Of Here Nba Playoffs GIF by Bleacher Report
 
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TVexperto

Member
Crocodile tears fool nobody, Genshin was, is, and always be a poor man's BOTW. Sure they have added a lot of stuff since launch but the base game and mechanics have BOTW written all over them.



I mean come on.... only a Chinese company (untouchable by Western/Japanese laws and authorities and pretty much encouraged by the Chinese government) would be so blatant.

They didn't come up with any of that stuff by themselves.
Get Out Of Here Nba Playoffs GIF by Bleacher Report

I mean 4 years later Genshin has much more mechanics, content and higher graphics quality and crossprogression
 

MrA

Member
Crocodile tears fool nobody, Genshin was, is, and always be a poor man's BOTW. Sure they have added a lot of stuff since launch but the base game and mechanics have BOTW written all over them.



I mean come on.... only a Chinese company (untouchable by Western/Japanese laws and authorities and pretty much encouraged by the Chinese government) would be so blatant.

They didn't come up with any of that stuff by themselves.
Get Out Of Here Nba Playoffs GIF by Bleacher Report

Yeah but did Nintendo think of rolling for waifus?
 
I gave it a try because it looked like BotW, so if they deliberately ripped Zelda off, it worked.

Kind of insane that they were planning a 10-year(!) update cycle but went in with a completely inexperienced team to build the foundation for that. I wonder if some of the problems with the game still stem from that decision.
 
Crocodile tears fool nobody, Genshin was, is, and always be a poor man's BOTW. Sure they have added a lot of stuff since launch but the base game and mechanics have BOTW written all over them.



I mean come on.... only a Chinese company (untouchable by Western/Japanese laws and authorities and pretty much encouraged by the Chinese government) would be so blatant.

They didn't come up with any of that stuff by themselves.
Get Out Of Here Nba Playoffs GIF by Bleacher Report


And who the fuck cares?!?

Games ape other games all the time. They even have a term for it, "taking inspiration".

Nobody bitches and moans when news of a new Soulslike game launches and directly references Souls games in their marketing to describe the gameplay loop.

Quite why these idiots would get their knickers in a twist over Genshin Impact copying from BoTW, when virtually every forum thread on NeoGaf about BoTW for like a year post-launch was about how Zelda fans want other games to copy BoTW.... then ya'll launch into a state of insensate delirium when a game actually does.

It's fucking puerile.
 

Robb

Gold Member
Crocodile tears fool nobody, Genshin was, is, and always be a poor man's BOTW. Sure they have added a lot of stuff since launch but the base game and mechanics have BOTW written all over them.



I mean come on.... only a Chinese company (untouchable by Western/Japanese laws and authorities and pretty much encouraged by the Chinese government) would be so blatant.

They didn't come up with any of that stuff by themselves.
Get Out Of Here Nba Playoffs GIF by Bleacher Report

“Inspiration”, that’s literally Chinese Knockoff: The Game.

Wouldn’t surprise me if this is the exact reason Nintendo started to copyright gameplay mechanics for TotK.
 

supernova8

Banned
And who the fuck cares?!?

Games ape other games all the time. They even have a term for it, "taking inspiration".

Nobody bitches and moans when news of a new Soulslike game launches and directly references Souls games in their marketing to describe the gameplay loop.

Quite why these idiots would get their knickers in a twist over Genshin Impact copying from BoTW, when virtually every forum thread on NeoGaf about BoTW for like a year post-launch was about how Zelda fans want other games to copy BoTW.... then ya'll launch into a state of insensate delirium when a game actually does.

It's fucking puerile.
Hey at least those Soulsborne clones admitted it and wore it like a badge of honor. Not like the Genshin folks fishing for sympathy as if it was all a big misunderstanding and they never had sexual relations with that woman, Monica Lewinsky even heard of BOTW.

Sad Bill Clinton GIF
 

JimboJones

Member
I was so disappointed when I played this game, I wanted it to be a BoTW rip off, it might look it but it certainly don't play like it.
 
Hey at least those Soulsborne clones admitted it and wore it like a badge of honor. Not like the Genshin folks fishing for sympathy as if it was all a big misunderstanding and they never had sexual relations with that woman, Monica Lewinsky even heard of BOTW.

Sad Bill Clinton GIF

Even if the dev doesn't acknowledge the mechanics it imitates from BoTW.... so?!? What's the issue? Why do they have to even acknowledge it?

Did BoTW invent those mechanics? Clearly, it didn't. Why must MiHoYo bend over backward to kiss Nintendo's ass over the gameplay mechanics in BoTW that were first introduced in many games before it?

Zelda BoTW doesn't have some tacit monopoly on its gameplay mechanics.

Surely, Zelda fans who enjoyed BoTW should be happy there are more games available that imitate it that they can enjoy too. I know it might seem like blasphemy to some on here, but you can be a fan of one game, e.g. Zelda: BoTW, while buying and enjoying another game that's similar to it.... shock, horror! I know, right!

I feel like some of these folks only started gaming in the 3D era. Back in the 2D era, the vast majority of 3rd party games were literal clones of the more popular ones. Not even homages or inspired by them, they were literal clones... like actual copy-and-paste and just change some of the sprites.

A lack of originality doesn't prevent a game from being entertaining and fun to play.
 
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MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Mobile holds Genshin Impact back. Zelda has a better stamina system and doesn't rely on Gacha Banners for good weapons nor wants you to build teams to do Abyss runs after your dailies.

I liked GI for the exploration but after Mondstat or whatever it falls off hard after you are gated from exploring things. Pretty game though with good music.

I'd give it another go after it's "complete" but at that point they might just shut it down so I dunno. Once you got the characters with value in Jean or Ganyu rolling for anything else seemed pointless.

Or just build Noelle into an absolute unit.

If Mihoyo stopped gating players with the stamina issues and did events ingame instead of go to this webpage I might still be playing it.

The Zelda roots are clearly there and it was a joy to play.
 

jonnyXx

Member
Mobile holds Genshin Impact back. Zelda has a better stamina system and doesn't rely on Gacha Banners for good weapons nor wants you to build teams to do Abyss runs after your dailies.

I liked GI for the exploration but after Mondstat or whatever it falls off hard after you are gated from exploring things. Pretty game though with good music.

I'd give it another go after it's "complete" but at that point they might just shut it down so I dunno. Once you got the characters with value in Jean or Ganyu rolling for anything else seemed pointless.

Or just build Noelle into an absolute unit.

If Mihoyo stopped gating players with the stamina issues and did events ingame instead of go to this webpage I might still be playing it.

The Zelda roots are clearly there and it was a joy to play.
Yea the stamina system (resin), gacha, and artifact rng come together to ensure you have to play the game for months and even years to build up your characters bringing your progression to a screeching halt once you're done questing.

I've never played a game with a stamina system and it's so freaking alien to me that I want to play the game but it won't let me. You log in and play for 20-30 mins and then the game is like ok that's enough, wait till tomorrow to continue making progress.

The game is great I enjoy the exploration, the music is fantastic, and I think the combat is phenomenal but all this gating really drags the experience down.
 

Mr Moose

Member
Crocodile tears fool nobody, Genshin was, is, and always be a poor man's BOTW. Sure they have added a lot of stuff since launch but the base game and mechanics have BOTW written all over them.



I mean come on.... only a Chinese company (untouchable by Western/Japanese laws and authorities and pretty much encouraged by the Chinese government) would be so blatant.

They didn't come up with any of that stuff by themselves.
Get Out Of Here Nba Playoffs GIF by Bleacher Report

Good thing they didn't copy the breaking sword crap.
 

Fuz

Banned
Mobile holds Genshin Impact back. Zelda has a better stamina system and doesn't rely on Gacha Banners for good weapons nor wants you to build teams to do Abyss runs after your dailies.

I liked GI for the exploration but after Mondstat or whatever it falls off hard after you are gated from exploring things. Pretty game though with good music.

I'd give it another go after it's "complete" but at that point they might just shut it down so I dunno. Once you got the characters with value in Jean or Ganyu rolling for anything else seemed pointless.

Or just build Noelle into an absolute unit.

If Mihoyo stopped gating players with the stamina issues and did events ingame instead of go to this webpage I might still be playing it.

The Zelda roots are clearly there and it was a joy to play.
You haven't played in quite a while, haven't you?
2Rce3.gif


Stamina is NOT the problem. Stop mentioning it as a problem - the RNG on drops is a problem. You want to farm more for nothing?
 
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A.Romero

Member
Crocodile tears fool nobody, Genshin was, is, and always be a poor man's BOTW. Sure they have added a lot of stuff since launch but the base game and mechanics have BOTW written all over them.



I mean come on.... only a Chinese company (untouchable by Western/Japanese laws and authorities and pretty much encouraged by the Chinese government) would be so blatant.

They didn't come up with any of that stuff by themselves.
Get Out Of Here Nba Playoffs GIF by Bleacher Report


Would it make a difference if it was developed in the west?

I haven't played GI nor BOTW but I would think it would be similar to any soulsborne game like Lies of P, right? Or did they straight up stole assets?
 

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
You haven't played in quite a while, haven't you?
2Rce3.gif


Stamina is NOT the problem. Stop mentioning it as a problem - the RNG on drops is a problem. You want to farm more for nothing?
Haven't played since Liyue. Never looked back. Heard conflicting perception on Electro nation content. Not sure if they ever released Dendro characters yet either.
 
Crocodile tears fool nobody, Genshin was, is, and always be a poor man's BOTW. Sure they have added a lot of stuff since launch but the base game and mechanics have BOTW written all over them.



I mean come on.... only a Chinese company (untouchable by Western/Japanese laws and authorities and pretty much encouraged by the Chinese government) would be so blatant.

They didn't come up with any of that stuff by themselves.


Genshin exploration is a complete rip-off of breath of the wild, and genshin is better at it. BOTW feels like the world was made and then expanded and stretched until the developers felt it was big enough. There are large sections of that game where the world just feels way too big for the environment, and travel takes way too long. Maybe the latest Zelda game fixed that issue, but Genshin nailed world design. You're never too far away from a puzzle, or a collectable, or a treasure, or an enemy. It's one of the best things about the game.
 

supernova8

Banned
Even if the dev doesn't acknowledge the mechanics it imitates from BoTW.... so?!? What's the issue? Why do they have to even acknowledge it?

Did BoTW invent those mechanics? Clearly, it didn't. Why must MiHoYo bend over backward to kiss Nintendo's ass over the gameplay mechanics in BoTW that were first introduced in many games before it?

Zelda BoTW doesn't have some tacit monopoly on its gameplay mechanics.

Surely, Zelda fans who enjoyed BoTW should be happy there are more games available that imitate it that they can enjoy too. I know it might seem like blasphemy to some on here, but you can be a fan of one game, e.g. Zelda: BoTW, while buying and enjoying another game that's similar to it.... shock, horror! I know, right!

I feel like some of these folks only started gaming in the 3D era. Back in the 2D era, the vast majority of 3rd party games were literal clones of the more popular ones. Not even homages or inspired by them, they were literal clones... like actual copy-and-paste and just change some of the sprites.

A lack of originality doesn't prevent a game from being entertaining and fun to play.
Never said that Mihoyo has to do anything. I just pointed out that it's a blatant rip-off.

If your response is just going to be "so what!" to everything I say, why bother even discussing the matter?
 
I never have a problem with someone "ripping off" a successful game. Imagine if Doom meant CoD could never be made?

Rip off as much as you like, but you better make it good or it would fail anyway.
 
Never said that Mihoyo has to do anything. I just pointed out that it's a blatant rip-off.

If your response is just going to be "so what!" to everything I say, why bother even discussing the matter?

I disagree. Your very premise is flawed.

Stating "it's a blatant rip-off" as a pejorative, as if that's some inherently negative thing in this context, is disingenuous.

There's literally nothing wrong with games lifting gameplay mechanics wholesale from other games. In fact, most games do this. Why would you consider Zelda: BoTW special, such that you would advocate for us all looking upon it in disapproval for doing something that all games do? What makes miHoYo any more guilty than any other dev?

In fact, I would go so far as to say that game copying top-tier game's gameplay mechanics is dare I say it, good. I mean, if I was a fan of BoTW and I'd finished the game and wanted more and was looking for something else to play, why wouldn't a BoTW clone that is also a quality game be of value to me? Or is only Nintendo allowed to make that type of game into perpetuity? They clearly aren't.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
It’s not just derivative. They copied animations wholesale from BotW, last I checked. If China didn’t get away with ignoring IP law Genshin wouldn’t exist.

The game has differentiated itself now but was able to succeed and increase in scope by copy pasting BotW.
 

supernova8

Banned
I disagree. Your very premise is flawed.

Stating "it's a blatant rip-off" as a pejorative, as if that's some inherently negative thing in this context, is disingenuous.

There's literally nothing wrong with games lifting gameplay mechanics wholesale from other games. In fact, most games do this. Why would you consider Zelda: BoTW special, such that you would advocate for us all looking upon it in disapproval for doing something that all games do? What makes miHoYo any more guilty than any other dev?

In fact, I would go so far as to say that game copying top-tier game's gameplay mechanics is dare I say it, good. I mean, if I was a fan of BoTW and I'd finished the game and wanted more and was looking for something else to play, why wouldn't a BoTW clone that is also a quality game be of value to me? Or is only Nintendo allowed to make that type of game into perpetuity? They clearly aren't.
Are you stupid or something?

I said that Genshin Impact is a blatant rip off of BOTW and that we can all see through Mihoyo's crocodile tears.

I will say it again:
Genshin Impact is a blatant rip off of BOTW
Genshin Impact is a blatant rip off of BOTW
Genshin Impact is a blatant rip off of BOTW
Genshin Impact is a blatant rip off of BOTW

There's imitating gameplay mechanics and general gameplay loops and then there's completely copying the entire game down to minute details that you'd usually think "nah they wouldn't be that obvious, surely" and just reskinning it to waifu anime models.

As EviLore rightly pointed out, the only reason this game even exists is because is because Nintendo would never win in a Chinese court because China either doesn't give a shit or actively encourages its companies to steal from foreign companies (that goes for pretty much every industry, not just games).

If your argument is "Yes of course it's a blatant rip-off but.." then I don't give a shit what you say after the "but" part. It's a blatant rip-off, end of discussion.

Winning Game Over GIF by Pudgy Penguins
 
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Nintendo is only afraid of the Red Menace. I think if they tried to sue in other countries, besides China, they might get retaliated against by the Legion of CCP hackers.
Just a theory.
 
I will say it again:
Genshin Impact is a blatant rip off of BOTW
Genshin Impact is a blatant rip off of BOTW
Genshin Impact is a blatant rip off of BOTW
Genshin Impact is a blatant rip off of BOTW
The combat is completely different, as are many of the gameplay mechanics and puzzle design.

You glide and climb and have stamina for climbing and running. That's about it. Oh, and you can place pins on a map. Just about everything else is different. You have to ignore a lot about the game to write it off as a rip off of anything other than the exploration elements.


They copied animations wholesale from BotW, last I checked. If China didn’t get away with ignoring IP law Genshin wouldn’t exist.

I hadn't heard that. I checked you tube and didn't really see much from the comparison videos posted. If it's true, I'd be interested in seeing them side by side, but all the animations that I saw looked different.
 
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Zheph

Member
I remember they ripped some running animations from NieR Automata but I guess it's only bad if its Nintendo?

 
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supernova8

Banned
You have to ignore a lot about the game to write it off as a rip off of anything other than the exploration elements.

If you watched the video I linked to and still genuinely believe it isn't a complete rip off then I think you're the one ignoring reality.

You're even worse than the other guy lol. At least he acknowledges that it's a complete rip off.
 
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If you watched the video I linked to and still genuinely believe it isn't a complete rip off then I think you're the one ignoring reality.

You're even worse than the other guy lol. At least he acknowledges that it's a complete rip off.
Have you actually played a lot of both games? Because that's what I'm basing my opinion off of, not a well edited video intended to show off only similarities while ignoring all differences.

I will agree that there's more to the "borrowed" elements than exploration, based on that video, but that doesn't change the fact that they're pretty different games when you actually play them and understand how they both are designed. I've finished BOTW, and I've put in over 100 hours on Genshin, so I understand the differences.
 
What’s funny is that Genshin is more fun, more engaging, and better paced than BOTW. The fighting mechanics are better and the sense of exploration is outstanding. It also looks way better than Zelda. It’s superior in nearly every way.

I only started playing it in the last 2 months or so because my gf got into it with her work friends and I was like ok let’s see what this is all about. I’ve been repeatedly blown away by how good it is and how much fun it is. An amazing game and it deserves all the credit and success it’s had. Very excited for 4.0, can’t wait to see what’s in store for the game. Other than a couple $5 passes I’ve spent nothing else. For the time I’ve put into the game and the enjoyment it’s given me that might just be the best $10 I’ve ever spent.

And don’t even get me started on Star Rail, it’s the best traditional “jrpg” I’ve played in years. Great story, great character, excellent battle system, amazing graphics. Apparently Mihoyo can do no wrong. Everything they touch turns to gold. Waiting patiently for their next game too, Zenless Zone Zero. They have quickly because one of my favorite devs in the industry.

Haters can hate all they want, about f2p, gaas, live service, ect… you’re just missing out on a gaming and cultural milestone.

Edit.
Oh wow read through this thread. People saying it’s a copy paste of BOTW hold zero weight imo, clearly haven’t actually played the game. I’ve played both games. They are different. Lmfao. Wow. Blind hate actually does blind you it seems.
 
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supernova8

Banned
Have you actually played a lot of both games? Because that's what I'm basing my opinion off of, not a well edited video intended to show off only similarities while ignoring all differences.

I will agree that there's more to the "borrowed" elements than exploration, based on that video, but that doesn't change the fact that they're pretty different games when you actually play them and understand how they both are designed. I've finished BOTW, and I've put in over 100 hours on Genshin, so I understand the differences.
I've played both games and.... it is a rip-off. I only linked the video for everyone's convenience.
If you think you can confuse me by trying to start a pissing competition in terms of who has put the most hours into the games then you are sorely mistaken.

You can list as many differences as you like, none of that will alter the cold hard fact that the base game is the same.

It's over.
 

MrA

Member
And who the fuck cares?!?

Games ape other games all the time. They even have a term for it, "taking inspiration".

Nobody bitches and moans when news of a new Soulslike game launches and directly references Souls games in their marketing to describe the gameplay loop.

Quite why these idiots would get their knickers in a twist over Genshin Impact copying from BoTW, when virtually every forum thread on NeoGaf about BoTW for like a year post-launch was about how Zelda fans want other games to copy BoTW.... then ya'll launch into a state of insensate delirium when a game actually does.

It's fucking puerile.

sony has gran blue , nintendo has whatever that is, ms problem clearly isn't games or hardware or anything, it's clear the lack of waifus,
 
Are you stupid or something?

I said that Genshin Impact is a blatant rip off of BOTW and that we can all see through Mihoyo's crocodile tears.

I will say it again:
Genshin Impact is a blatant rip off of BOTW
Genshin Impact is a blatant rip off of BOTW
Genshin Impact is a blatant rip off of BOTW
Genshin Impact is a blatant rip off of BOTW

There's imitating gameplay mechanics and general gameplay loops and then there's completely copying the entire game down to minute details that you'd usually think "nah they wouldn't be that obvious, surely" and just reskinning it to waifu anime models.

As EviLore rightly pointed out, the only reason this game even exists is because is because Nintendo would never win in a Chinese court because China either doesn't give a shit or actively encourages its companies to steal from foreign companies (that goes for pretty much every industry, not just games).

If your argument is "Yes of course it's a blatant rip-off but.." then I don't give a shit what you say after the "but" part. It's a blatant rip-off, end of discussion.

Winning Game Over GIF by Pudgy Penguins

How old are you? Like 12?

Not only were you woefully incapable of formulating a rational justification for your rather ill-informed premise, i.e. that games copying other game's mechanics is inherently bad, you simply doubled down on repeating your ignorant mantra with this vitriolic incoherent rant.

Even more hilarious is that the best you can come up with for an argument is, "hurr durr, Evilore said Nintendo could sue" which beggars belief, since even exercising the least amount of critical thinking would tell you that gameplay mechanics cannot and absolutely should not be able to be protected by patent or copyright anywhere in the world. So unless you're trying to make the absurd argument that Genshin Impact actually contains Zelda branding, characters or copyrighted material (which it doesn't, clearly), then this statement is patently absurd.
 
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I've played both games and.... it is a rip-off. I only linked the video for everyone's convenience.
If you think you can confuse me by trying to start a pissing competition in terms of who has put the most hours into the games then you are sorely mistaken.
If you're a Zelda fan who only played an hour or so of genshin to confirm your negative preconceived thoughts about the game, then I think I'm in a better position to judge. If that's not the case and you really did spend many hours with each game, then you're entitled to your opinion.

But I'm not suggesting whoever put the most hours into the game wins, as that would be a stupid argument. This isn't a contest, and I'm not suggesting otherwise.
 
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