Genshin Impact Voice Actors Claim They Haven’t Been Paid For Several Months

Multiple voice actors, including Paimon’s EN VA, have opened up about their months of unpaid work on Genshin Impact. The VAs are struggling to make do as they haven’t received the thousands of dollars they are owed. Due to the situation, people say this project should be a union for the situation to improve. Even so, it is unclear whether the issue is with HoYoverse or Formosa Group, which they outsource for dubbing. 

After a fifth email with no response, This is regarding Genshin Impact. Inexcusable for us as actors to be waiting 4+ months for pay when you make $86 million per month. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon problem- (thread) https://t.co/BPBW3WibG9

— Brandon Winckler (@BWincklerVA) July 13, 2023

Brandon Winckler, the voice actor for Kazuha’s Friend, bandits, and Nervous An, recently made a thread discussing their unpaid work in Genshin Impact. They are owed over 4 months of pay, and despite emailing them 5 times, there has been no response. They blamed this behavior on the project being non-union by saying.

It’s really hard to justify working on something for the sake of work when you can’t afford to eat. 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,” says Brandon Winckler.

This could be the fault of HoYoverse or Formosa Group, which is outsourced for dubbing. However, the VAs believe the problem will be solved if the game becomes a union project. They even stated, “I personally won’t be working on this game anymore unless it goes under a Union contract.” While they don’t speak for other voice actors, the EN voice actor for Paimon also raises their voice as someone going through the same dilemma.

Again… been working for MONTHS unpaid on a BIG project for a studio. I am owed THOUSANDS of dollars. I am struggling currently to pay rent because of this. This project has made BILLIONS. This project should be Union.

— Zulu & Lima (Corina, digi-destined) (@thebirdzulu) July 13, 2023

Corina Boettget, most famously recognized as Paimon in the English version, discussed how the studio’s reluctance to pay the thousands of dollars they are owed has put them in a difficult position financially. They don’t specifically mention the studio, as even the voice actors are unaware whether this is happening due to HoYoverse or Formosa Group, which they report to.

This wouldn’t happen if the game was union. Tell them to make the game SAG. 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,” says Corina Boettger.

Genshin Impact is an ARPG that was developed and published by miHoYo. It was released on iOS, Android, PC, and PlayStation 4 in 2020. A year later, the game was released on PlayStation 5 and is currently in the works for Nintendo Switch. Genshin Impact is a massive project that generated $3.7 billion in revenue on its second anniversary. After much controversy, it even won the Players Voice award in The Game Awards.