[GameSpot] - Genshin Impact's Remaining Continents Will Be Added Over Next Four Years

[343iBot]

Genshin Impact's world of Teyvat will continue to expand, with developer miHoYo hoping to add four more continents to the game over the next four years.

The news comes from Genshin Impact developer miHoYo's GDC 2021 talk (via Famitsu), where miHoYo producer and CEO Haoyu Cai went in-depth on its process of creating the world and characters found in the popular free-to-play game. miHoYo says the seven regions of the world have been planned from the start.

Three out of the game's seven planned continents are currently available, with the newest area of the game, Inazuma, having only been added recently with Genshin Impact's massive 2.0 update. As discussed in the GDC talk, each region of Teyvat and the characters hailing from that particular region are inspired by real-world cultures. Mondstadt, the game's first region, is inspired by Germany, while the game's second area, Liyue, draws inspiration from Chinese culture. The new Inazuma region and characters are inspired by Japan.

The developer's GDC presentation mainly focused on the technical aspects of crafting a beautiful world for players to explore, outlining how miHoYo uses various rendering effects, lighting, and art stylization to create the game's anime and cel-shaded look.

In addition to adding the new Inazuma zone, Genshin Impact's 2.0 update also added new characters, changes to in-game housing, and added support for cross-progression across PC, mobile, and PlayStation platforms.

Going hand-in-hand with the game's new console cross-progression is the inclusion of Aloy from the Horizon series. The new 5-star character can be summoned for free for all players, though PlayStation users above Adventure Rank 20 will be able to use Aloy starting with the game's 2.1 update, while players on other platforms will get the chance when the game's 2.2 update arrives. Players who have reached Adventure Rank 20 or above can also obtain a special bow that can be used by the character.

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