How Genshin Impact’s use of gambling and intimacy embody artist Lawrence Lek’s concept of ‘sinofuturism’
How Genshin Impact’s use of gambling and intimacy embody artist Lawrence Lek’s concept of ‘sinofuturism’
All Locations Idaho E Idaho Massacre Rocks Main Wall 6 Controversy Wall Slot Machine (5.11d 7a 24 VIII 25 E5 6a) Suggested Page Improvements to The Slot Machine - none. This slot machine is ostensibly set in 1937 in a period of hope and prosperity after the great depression in America, or so the game's narrative exposition tells us. But in actual fact, the game presents a city scape that is far more modern and futuristic than any city from the 1930s, because there are towering skyscrapers, huge intercity train.
On 28 September, Genshin Impact enjoyed the biggest global launch of a Chinese video game ever. It’s easy to see why; the vast, open-world adventure filled with a cast of impeccably rendered characters combines the easy charm of a Saturday-morning cartoon with the painterly style of prestige anime. However, praise for the game was tempered by two seemingly incontrovertible points: first, Genshin Impact appears to crib from Nintendo’s beloved pastoral epic, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017); second, as a free-to-play ‘gacha’ game, its revenue derives from players who purchase new characters through randomized, gambling-like processes. The latter feature is especially problematic, its eye-catching visuals and other alluring design elements engineered to exploit its users’ financial vulnerabilities.
Developed by Shanghai-based studio Mihoyo, Genshin Impact offers players a finely tuned fantasy featuring the expected slew of quests and secrets. Action centres around elemental properties – fire, wind, water – which fill the screen with pleasing, firework-like effects. The entire experience feels both intensely polished and like it barely hangs together at all. The game’s outpacing of its European and North American competitors has reoriented the industry’s attention towards China. In his 2016 video essay Sinofuturism (1839–2046 AD), artist Lawrence Lek wrestled with this process, leaning into anxieties about the decline of Western political power and the rising economic prowess of China. Invoking techno-orientalist narratives, the filmmaker subverted what he identified as ‘seven key stereotypes’ of the country to present a satire of Yellow Peril fit for the 21st century. Copying and gambling, two of the most effusively discussed elements of Genshin Impact, are part of Lek’s formation, alongside computing, studying, gaming, addiction and labour. Exaggerating these aspects to nightmarish proportions, Lek depicts what he calls a ‘science fiction that already exists’.
The relationship between labour, addiction and gambling is particularly conspicuous in Genshin Impact. The game exudes an almost capitalist dream-logic through its rapidly rising scores. Rewards appear frequently as wilderness is explored and enemies are killed. It’s serenely predictable, gliding by in a whirl of colour, music and endorphins. While pleasant, this is a primer for the game’s luck-based ‘gacha’ component: its beating economic heart that functions on brutally low odds. Liu Wei, one of Mihoyo’s founders, glibly refers to the company’s monetization strategy as ‘paying for love’, betting on the fondness players hold for characters they encounter, and their willingness to spend cash in order to recruit them. Having already generated more than US$140 million, Genshin Impact capitalizes on this desire for virtual intimacy.
Gacha is less new than newly mainstream, with virtual goods for sale in comparable free-to-play titles such as Fortnite, whose player bases often span continents and time zones. This echoes Lek’s idea that sinofuturism is an international phenomenon as much as Chinese one, whirring in the background of everyday life like globalization itself. It’s just Mihoyo’sluck that Genshin Impact has arrived at a time when players are lonelier and more cash-strapped than ever, thanks to COVID-19. Compared to a US$60 prestige video game, Genshin Impact, free at the point of access, offers affordable camaraderie and escapism – at least to the gambling-averse.
In Sinofuturism (1839–2046 AD), the disembodied, computer-generated narrator opinesthat luck and fortune are an ‘antidote to repetitive labour’ and a randomized opportunity to change ‘boring destiny’. The more money I spend in Genshin Impact, the more each roll of the dice seems to offer me a bolt of anticipation, while encouraging me to repeat the same behaviour over and over. And, by employing digital intimacy for capitalist exploitation within a story and world that is always growing, Genshin Impact ensures me and millions of other players keep paying for love – at least until our credit cards get declined.
Main Image: Genshin Impact, 2020, video still. Courtesy: miHoYo
MORE LIKE THISThe five-film series is an epic, tender portrait of London’s West Indian community
With tens of thousands of pro-democracy, anti-monarchy protestors on the streets, should the second Bangkok Art Biennale have opened?
Cultural workers in Germany bristle at new lockdown measures; plus, Poland’s response to a new abortion law
The author’s latest novel, ‘The Silence’, is full of questions with obvious answers
The following are five online video slots by Aristocrat that we deem are the best:
Adventure Capitalist Free Online
Where’s the Gold – This is a 5-reel, 25-paylines video slot game, where the free spins rounds come with additional wild symbols and exciting bonus features. By triggering three or more scatters with the dynamite symbol your chances of winning become even greater.
Queen of the Nile – Aristocrat claims to be the first to release a slot game with the ancient Egypt theme. This is a 5-reel, 20-payline video slot games the Queen of the Nile wild symbol can double your winnings. During the free spins rounds you can even triple them.
Adventure Capitalist Cheats
50 Lions – A 50-payline slot with stacked wilds, free spins and a theme revolving around the African jungles. This is one of the most popular online video slots by Aristocrat where you can trigger up to 10 free spins with the chance for additional 5.
Zorro – This video slot manages to stand from the bunch of Aristocrat’s online slots by giving a 5,000 coins jackpot. Multiply this by the maximum bet amount of $125 per spin and you get a maximum jackpot amount of $625,000.
Werewolf Wild – The Werewolf Wild slot takes you back to Victorian London, where you can unlock the Werewolf touch bonus with contagious wilds, the mystery coin feature, and the claw swipe feature. Try this slot if you are curious about what these represent.