Update 17:19 BST 14/07/2023 - Hoyoverse has provided a statement to Video Games on Sports Illustrated, reading, "“We truly regret to learn about the ongoing situation. 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 immediately urged the studio to pay our voice actors from our past payment. Meanwhile, we are also seeking alternative solutions.”
Despite being one of the most popular games in the world, several voice actors who work on Genshin Impact are reporting that they're owed thousands of dollars for voice acting work and haven't been paid for up to seven months.
Brandon Winckler, who is credited as voicing Kazuha's Friend, Bandits, Nervous An, and additional voices in Genshin Impact, tweeted on Tuesday that they'd been waiting more than three months for payment on "literally the BIGGEST video game project out there", noting that voice actors should be demanding their payments. At the time, Winckler didn't explicitly refer to Genshin Impact, but has since confirmed it’s the game in question and urged another key voice actor to share their experience.
In a follow-up tweet that was spurred on after five attempts to resolve the issue, Winckler revealed that they'd been waiting between four and eight months to be paid for their work with little to no response from the companies responsible.
"It's really hard to justify working on something for the sake of work when you can't afford to eat,” Winckler wrote in the tweet. “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. A game like this WITHOUT A DOUBT, should be a union production… I personally won't be working on this game anymore unless it goes under a Union contract."
Winckler says the problem doesn't lie with Genshin Impact's developers, Mihoyo, and is allegedly because of Formosa Group, the studio responsible for the English dub. Genshin Impact voice actors from other regions appear to have no problems with payment and Honkai Star Rail hasn't had any issues so far which, combined with Winckler specifically calling out Formosa in a recent tweet, indicates that the problems likely come from the dubbing company.
This wouldn't be the first time Formosa has had issues with its voice actors, as it was the subject of the 2016 -2017 video game voice actor strikes by SAG-AFTRA that included the likes of Activision, EA, Take-Two Interactive, and Warner Bros. Games, back when Formosa Group was known as Formosa Interactive.
Winckler isn't the only Genshin Impact voice actor who has reported having problems with receiving payment. Corina Boettger, who voices the protagonist’s sidekick Paimon with thousands of voice lines, responded to Winckler's tweet that they are still waiting on payments for sessions that took place back in December 2022, noting that they're "struggling to pay rent because this studio on this big project hasn't been paying me for my work".
Boettger doesn't explicitly state that the game they're waiting for payment on is Genshin Impact, but we can assume from their reply to Winckler, their retweets, and their role as Paimon that they're in the same situation. When a fan asked how this was legal, Boettger said that it's not, but that they simply can't afford a lawyer to fight the situation and that they're at risk of becoming homeless. Although Winckler seems sure that the problem lies with Formosa Group, Boettger is unsure if it's an issue with Formosa or Mihoyo.
"Again... been working for MONTHS unpaid on a BIG project for a studio,” Boettger wrote. 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."
Currently, it seems like the best outcome for Winckler, Boettger, and everyone else involved in voice acting for Genshin Impact is for it to become a union production, which it currently isn't. Both voice actors have called for Mihoyo to "make the game SAG", which means that it would be part of the Screen Actors Guild and guarantee fair, standardised wages and more benefits for those working on the game.
This is especially important right now as SAG-AFTRA continues to strike to ensure fair treatment and benefits for those working in the entertainment industry, although it's worth pointing out that even they are finding it incredibly difficult to negotiate and get what they want. It's not a guaranteed fix for the problem, but it's certainly a better step forward than what's happening right now.
Both Boettger and Winckler have received plentiful support from Genshin Impact fans and fellow voice actors, who are calling for Genshin Impact to be unionised and for all of those involved to have fair contracts.
TheGamer has contacted Formosa Group for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.