Genshin Impact: Is it free to play? Is it pay to win?

Last Updated on: 11th November 2021, 09:09 am

Genshin Impact is currently one of the most popular games around, and you’ve most likely heard of the title already – but is the game pay to win, or a fair free to play?

Luckily that’s precisely what I intend to address for you in this article.

Is Genshin Impact Free to Play?

In short, yes it is. Though as with all free-to-play games the devs do need to make money somewhere, so there are a few premium interactions – though the F2P / Premium balance has been done quite well, in my opinion at least.

In any case, if you simply wish to try the game out but are wary of a potential price tag, you don’t have to be. You can simply go download the game right now for absolutely nothing with the links provided in our article below – and if you’re on the fence about trying it, why not give it a go?

READ MORE: Genshin Impact: Where to download for PC

On to the next point however, whether the game can be considered pay to win, as many free to play games are.

Is Genshin Impact pay to win?

This is a difficult one, as the traditional idea of “pay to win” for most players is a single-player simply buying a huge amount of strength and annihilating everyone else they come into contact with in multiplayer.

This traditional idea falls apart with Genshin Impact, as the game doesn’t have player versus player – or at least it doesn’t at the time of writing, in any case. So the most blatant idea of pay to win – where it ruins the experience for others, is not present.

With that said, the game does use a few things that can be considered pay to win – a Gacha system used to obtain new characters (and some weapons), and the ability to buy Primogems indirectly, as well as a premium battle pass option.

The Battlepass

The battle pass is what you’d expect, a two-tier system with a free and premium version, with rewards for each level and better rewards available for paying players.

Battle passes like this are quite common of late in F2P games and won’t surprise many people – even some Premium games include them, such as the likes of Destiny 2.

Genshin Impact: How to earn Story Keys for Hangout events

I won’t discuss this too much as most readers are almost certainly familiar with Battle passes already, even if the name doesn’t ring a bell. The core idea is a set of tasks that grant EXP, with rewards earned for each “level” of EXP you complete.

In Genshin Impact, you have daily tasks, weekly tasks, and a handful of monthly tasks. The dailies are quite basic and earn just under 1000 points a day, which is the number of points needed for each battle pass level.

Weekly tasks provide a few hundred each typically, while monthly tasks can provide over a thousand each. All of these are optional to both F2P and premium players, but the rewards are quite useful, so most players try to make use of them.

The Gacha System

Moving on, the Gacha system is where you “wish” for new characters. You need items, known as “fates” to gamble on getting new characters in the wish system. Wish is certainly an apt name, given how rare they can be.

These fates can be bought by Primogems – which can be earned fairly easily through gameplay or bought indirectly through buying a currency that converts into Primogems, for premium players.

This is the crux of making a Pay to win argument against Genshin Impact, as this means premium players get more tries faster on the Gacha system, and therefore might end up getting what characters they want sooner.

The Gacha system however also features a “pity system” – that grants a 100% chance 4* reward every ten wishes made – your other wishes will likely be 3* gear and weapons, but every 10th wish will be forced to be 4* or even potentially 5*.

Genshin Impacts pity system is actually one of the most generous around in Gacha games, which is a large part of why it is managing to hold a huge audience well.

READ MORE: The history of miHoYo, the developer of Genshin Impact

As Gacha style games typically have higher star characters being simply better, this pity system helps to negate the worst of a Gacha system by allowing F2P players to get characters on a regular basis by trading in earned Primogems for fates.

And while 5* characters are, as a rule, generally considered stronger than 4*, that doesn’t mean no 4* characters are good enough to shine – many are incredibly strong in their own right. Both of the 4* characters here for example are very popular within the community and considered excellent choices.

And it also doesn’t mean that 5* characters are gods that will make the game easy immediately, as they all still need good weapons and accessories, alongside all the necessary materials and experience farming.

Summary

So with all of that covered, Is Genshin Impact free to play? Yes. It’s freely available for anyone on PC at the link here.

Is Genshin Impact pay to win? It depends on how bothered you are by that concept in a game that is only cooperative. You’ll not be fighting against someone who is simply undefeatable because they spent 500$ on the game, mostly because you won’t be fighting each other at all.

But some paying players can potentially use real-world currency to speed up their access to characters as they become available during events – though even if they do, they’ll still need to put in a lot of resources and time to properly gear them up to a fighting standard.

In my opinion, it’s not hugely play to win but the game does have a handful of premium elements – though the experience thus far even as a F2P player exclusively has been great for me, and I’d recommend at least trying the game if you’re curious.

Overall, the game is still free to play – some premium features are to be expected to allow the game to make revenue. If you’re on the fence, give the game a try. The download is relatively small compared to many modern games and access is free.

Best of luck to you if you join us on the journey in Genshin Impact, Traveler.