A major update hit Genshin Impact to start the year, but the developers have evidently failed to attract players’ interest with the release of Alhaitham and Yaoyao in Patch 3.4.
Both five-star banners, Alhaitham and Xiao, have generated among the lowest revenue numbers in China within the first week of release, according to iOS data. They have still yet to reach the $10 million mark.
This doesn’t mean Alhaitham and Yaoyao are poorly-designed characters or they’re not popular at all, though. Here’s why we think the banners have failed to attract players.
Budget
These banners follow two previous banners that almost broke the all-time revenue record in China.
The Raiden Shogun’s release, as well as her banner alongside Kamisato Ayato’s rerun, are the top-three and top-two revenue-grossing banners in the game’s history, respectively.
They generated $46 million combined in China on iOS devices alone while excluding the Occidental market and Android users in China.
Raiden is the second-most popular Archon behind Nahida, the Dendro Archo, which holds the record of revenue generated with Yoimiya’s rerun.
Many players have spent their full Genshin budget to try and get her once, or even multiple times to unlock her Constellation bonuses.
Saving for the next banners
Alhaitham and Xiao suffered from both previous and upcoming banners. Many players chose not to invest in the characters because they’re saving for the next banners introduced in February and March, which are expected to be popular.
This update’s second phase will see the highly-awaited return of five-star Yelan in the banner, as well as other popular four-star characters: Xingqiu, Ningguang, and Beidou. What’s more, the weapons featured in the other banner will also be highly sought-after.
Both Staff of Homa (Polearm) and Aqua Simulacra (Bow) are strong weapons: they boost critical damage, which is a precious stat for main and sub-DPS in a team. Players will try to add these to their arsenal or refine the version they’re already using.
These banners will release on Feb. 7, which doesn’t leave much time for players to get enough resources to secure Yelan if they spend it on Alhaitham, especially if they also spent money on Raiden Shogun.
Additionally, many players are eagerly awaiting Dehya’s release, which was announced for Patch 3.5. She and Mika will be the new characters introduced in previous content.
For all of these reasons, Alhaitham and Yaoyao were somehow sacrificed due to the overwhelming attention of the other releases.
Nevertheless, the response of the community to those new characters was pretty positive. Alhaitham features a unique playstyle, while Yaoyao is a valuable addition to many teams.
But the hectic pace of Genshin’s character releases and reruns forces players to make choices. Even when spending money on the game, it’s difficult to acquire all characters and unlock their full Constellation—not forgetting weapons either, which duplicates are precious for Refinement bonuses.
