As Genshin Impact fans criticize ‘whitewashing,’ a voice actor joins the chorus

polygon.com:

The Genshin Impactcommunity has been vocal in recent weeks about the whitewashing of characters. Now, one of the English-language voice actors is criticizing the game for “colorism.”

Fan criticism erupted on social media platforms like X and TikTok on July 13 when the company released a teaser trailer for Natlan, a new region inspired by pre-Columbian Latin America and West Africa, and its characters all had light or white skin. Some of the cast of English-language voice actors have now joined fans in saying Hoyoverse must be held accountable for the representation within the game. One voice actor, who wished to remain anonymous due to concerns over retaliation from Hoyoverse, spoke exclusively to Polygon about why they’re speaking up now.

“When an issue affects a person’s cultural background, and is so egregious in its misrepresentation, like the appropriation of ethnic gods, it’s easier to notice,” the actor told Polygon via DM.

Since Hoyoverse released Genshin Impact in 2020, the developers have added several regions inspired by different cultures to the game. Critics have argued that the way the development team created these regions has relied heavily on stereotypes, particularly with regions like the samurai-populated land of Inazuma and the hazy bazaars of Sumeru.

Criticism of Genshin Impact’s portrayal of peoples and cultures has been long-standing. But tensions rose throughout the community following the release of Sumeru in 2022, with fans arguing it essentialized Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) cultures.

“I wish I had been more aware of those issues during the Sumeru release for example,” the voice actor wrote. “Positive and faithful SWANA representation, especially in video games as cool and well-known as this one is severely lacking. Many of my SWANA friends complain about the small pool of roles catered to their background, and how often times those roles are offensively stereotypical.

“Previous representation issues like this were brought