Genshin Impact is coming to Xbox Series X on November 20, which makes the long-delayed Nintendo Switch port of the game even funnier in retrospect.
"Open-world ARPG game Genshin Impact will come to Nintendo Switch in the future," the official Genshin Impact YouTube channel declared on January 14, 2020. Technically, the Switch port could come out at any time and still make its deadline of the future, but I'm not holding my breath. HoYoverse has never outright said the Switch port is canceled, and has at several points insisted it's still coming, but at this rate it'll be a miracle if it makes it for the Nintendo Switch 2.
Word of the Xbox port is fresh out of Gamescom Opening Night Live 2024, with the latest trailer for upcoming 5.0 region Natlan converting the Dendro Archon Nahida into the Xbox Archon. A 2022 report claimed Xbox regretted losing such a popular and profitable game, also available on PC and mobile, to PlayStation. It seems Microsoft and developer HoYoverse finally came to an agreement.
Somewhat strangely, the entirely free-to-play game will apparently also be part of Xbox Game Pass, presumably for multiplayer reasons. Stranger still, Xbox is offering a $9.99 "pre-order bundle" which really ain't worth it. This is the same bundle that's already available on the PlayStation Store. It comes with 150,000 Mora (gold), two Acquaint Fate (standard banner rolls), 80 character XP books, 50 weapon ores, and some food for healing. "For a limited time," pre-ordering the bundle gets you an additional handful of character and weapon XP.
This bundle is a demonstrably terrible way to spend $10 on Genshin Impact. That same $10 could get you two months of the log-in Welkin Pass, which nets you 90 Primogems a day to spend on more, and more coveted, limited banner rolls. You could also get one of the battle passes which dishes out far, far more XP alongside a nice weapon and other resources. Or it could get you a nice sandwich in real life! Spend your money how you please, but if you just want to grease the wheels in Genshin, please don't spend it on this bundle.
With Genshin hitting Xbox on November 20, it should arrive right alongside update 5.2, which will be the third update of the Natlan region. This means Xbox players will unfortunately miss the game's upcoming fourth anniversary celebration, which will dish out the first free 5-star character in the game's history. If you're planning to play the game in the future, it may be worth making an account on mobile now, grabbing the anniversary loot in September, and then cashing in on the returning player bonus once the Xbox port is out.
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