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Despite the game’s massive financial success, several Genshin Impact voice actors claim they aren’t being paid. According to statements from various voice actors involved with the project, the game’s developer, HoYoverse, is allegedly paying its voice actors poorly–and sometimes not paying them at all. But the studio has now responded, saying it’s actually the recording studio it uses that hasn’t been paying on time.
Two voice actors have come forward publicly to share their experience with the studio on Twitter. Corina Boettger–the voice behind the popular NPC named Paimon–says she is owed thousands, and Brandon Winckler (who voices a number of minor roles) has shared a similar story after ultimately deciding to leave the production.
Boettger weighed in on the situation with a Twitter thread of her own, stating she hasn’t been paid in “months,” before adding, “Just to be clear, we don’t know if this is the fault of the studio, or the game company. But regardless, if the game was union this wouldn’t happen.”
Winckler also revealed that, in addition to being late, their wages were also extremely low.
“It’s really hard to justify working on something for the sake of work when you can’t afford to eat, they tweeted. “Many non-union productions have this problem, I’ve waited anywhere from 4-8 months for payment, and even then, it isn’t much to ask. 1000 here, 500 there, and it adds up fast.”
Both actors have suggested that a game as big as Genshin Impact should be a union project to ensure voice actors are treated fairly and paid on time, especially given the game’s financial success–Genshin Impact reportedly generated a total of $3.7 billion from 2020 to 2022 alone, and Winckler has estimated the game makes roughly $86 million per month.
Though Boettger appears to still be working with the studio, Winckler made the choice to seek employment elsewhere.
“I personally won’t be working on this game anymore unless it goes under a union contract,” Winkler said of their decision to leave Genshin Impact. “I don’t have much to lose from this choice–and if I’m lucky, I hope others will at least see where I’m coming from with that choice.”
HoYoverse issued a statement to GameSpot suggesting it’s the recording studio that it uses, not the developer itself, that has been late on payments to voice actors. It says it’s pressuring the recording studio to pay up and is looking into “alternative solutions” to resolve the situation.
“We truly regret to learn about the ongoing situation,” the studio said. “Genshin Impact values and respects the work and effort of everyone involved, and we support our voice actors to claim their proper due. We have made payments to our recording studio on time, and we have immediately urged the studio to pay our voice actors. Meanwhile, we are also seeking alternative solutions. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.”
We’ve followed up to find out whether this is the first that HoYoverse has heard of the late payments, as the beginning of its statement suggests. We’ll report back as we learn more.
Unions have been gaining more traction in the gaming space as of late, with ZeniMax quality assurance employees voting to unionize in January, and Sega workers in Irvine forming the biggest multi-departmental union in video game history earlier this week. The trend toward unionization is an encouraging one, but situations like the Genshin Impact payout controversy clearly demonstrate that the playing field is not yet even, and pro-union workers in the gaming industry have a serious uphill battle ahead of them.
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