Genshin Impact Players Unhappy Following Controversial Character Change

Genshin Impact's recent update, update 1.3, made a pretty major change to one of the game's characters, and many players of the game on PS4, PS5, PC, and mobile devices aren't very happy about the change. In the same update, developer miHoYo made a subtle change to another character that fans were very receptive to, but the change it made to Barbara with the update isn't going down as well.

With the update, miHoYo has changed the voice of Barbara, and it's unclear why. Not only has the developer not explained the change and why it was made, but it's unclear why it would be made. Typically, when a character's voice is changed, it's due to demand or more commonly because the game is replacing the voice actor. However, the new voice is voiced by the same person, Laura Stahl. Further, there were zero players calling for the change, so again it's unclear what the motivation is here.

Taking to Twitter, Stahl revealed she's also not aware of why the change was made and that she would appreciate if fans stopped asking her about it, suggesting there's been a massive influx of inquiries about the situation.

"I can't ask them to change it back. I don't know why the change was made. Nor could I tell you if I did," said Stahl."Please just enjoy the game and stop asking me. Thanks."

I can’t ask them to change it back.

I don’t know why the change was made. Nor could I tell you if I did.

Plz just enjoy the game and stop asking me.

Thanks

— Laura Stahl (@laura_stahl) February 3, 2021

With the change, Barbara has lost some of the pep to her voice and now has a more muted demeanor. Thankfully for players who don't like the change, it's not a sweeping one, but rather to specific bits of dialogue that you can preview below.

Genshin Impact is available, for free, via the PC, PS4, and mobile devices. Meanwhile, the game is in development for the PS5, and is currently playable on the console via backward compatibility. In addition to this, a Nintendo Switch version is in the works. For more coverage on the action-RPG, click here. In the most recent and related news, developer miHoYo has confirmed more characters are coming to the game before 1.4 releases.