In a recent YouTube video, content creator Mtashed has criticized miHoYo’s Genshin Impact and its gacha system, saying: “I think that this system is very predatory. I think that this system is gambling.”
After he ended up spending thousands upon thousands of dollars on the action RPG, Mtashed is now concerned that he may have influenced his viewers to follow his footsteps and worsen their financial situation.
The gacha system of any game always has the tendency to become a slippery slope, but it appears that this is made even more obvious in Genshin Impact’s case. Even though it’s a free-to-play title, one of its main attractions is its small windows of opportunities that reward players with rare 5-star characters through its Wishing mechanic.
Here’s how Wishing works: using Primogems, which you can obtain from progressing through the game or through promos and events, you can make a Wish in-game that will hopefully reward you with high-quality characters and weapons. However, Genshin Impact’s provision of Primogems only come in small quantities, enough to pull a weapon or character a few times in a week.
Genshin Impact has a wide array of playable characters, and players have already set their eyes on a few favorites. As such, players end up spending a huge amount of money just to try and get their hands on a specific four or five-star character.
Now, it appears that YouTuber and content creator Mtashed is having none of it, as he is now openly lambasting the Chinese title’s gacha mechanic for what feels like an exploitative system.
Mtashed received a lot of concerned messages from fans who were worried that the YouTuber might have a gambling addiction. Following this, the YouTuber himself feels like he ended up developing a problem after all, and it wouldn’t be safe for his fans if he kept promoting and supporting the game.
You see, Mtashed has forked over more or less $7,200 on Genshin Impact. That’s obviously quite a lot of money. Sadly, this wouldn’t be the first time that a player has spent a huge amount on the Wish system. Another Genshin Impact streamer was previously criticized by their viewers for spending $2,000 just to try and get their hands on Keqing, a 5-star character.
Even though Mtashed gained a lot of new viewers for his Genshin Impact content, he says that he regrets posting about the title at all because his videos probably influenced others to use money that they don’t have on the RPG.
After calling Genshin Impact a “crooked” game, he announced that he will be making a brand-new account wherein his gameplay will be completely free-to-play. In addition, his previous videos that showcased the Wishing system without providing any educational value will be removed.
Mtashed isn’t the only one promoting the game’s free-to-play aspect, though. Other YouTubers and content creators have been encouraging players to go the free-to-play route, as the four-star characters are more than capable of winning battles even in the late-game content.
Although gameplay will be significantly slower, it’s completely possible to experience the entirety of Genshin Impact without having to spend a single dollar on the game. As for Mtashed, he plans to only use his AR45 account to create guides and other similar content, but he refuses to spend money on Genshin Impact going forward.
