"Genshin Impact" level designer Li Yixuan's GDC speech: Creating a limited-time open world for the summer version

From March 18th to 22nd, the world’s largest and most influential gaming event, the Global Game Developers Conference 2024 (GDC), was held in San Francisco, USA. At the "Design" theme session held on March 22, Li Yixuan, the level designer of "Genshin Impact" of Shanghai MiHoYo Network Technology Co., Ltd., presented the theme of ""Genshin Impact": Creating a limited-time open world for summer activities" gave a speech.

Li Yixuan introduced that since the global simultaneous public beta of "Genshin Impact" in 2020, it has maintained a new version update frequency of six weeks, and each new version will launch four to five limited-time activities. While experiencing the story, players can also obtain rewards by participating in activities.

Li Yixuan said that in addition to regular version updates, "Genshin Impact" will also release a summer limited-time event map around July every year.

(Summer limited-time event version poster)

Talking about why he chose to launch a limited-time event map in the summer, Li Yixuan said that judging from past data, Summer is the peak time for active players and hours played.

Different from the regular version of event design, the design of the limited-time event map brings more challenges to the "Genshin Impact" production team. The team needs to take advantage of the core features of limited-time activities, namely the three characteristics of "limited time", "uniqueness" and "staged", to provide players with a new exploration experience. In order to allow players to be more deeply immersed in the limited-time event map, the team needs to pay attention to the organic combination of player emotions, exploration methods, landscape design, narrative design and other elements when designing.

At the same time, how to seamlessly connect the elements in the limited-time event map to the vast world view of the entire Teyvat continent has become one of the difficulties in designing the limited-time event map.

After three years of trial and error, Li Yixuan summarized four techniques for designing limited-time event maps: First, design theme tasks around "limited time" and give players an unforgettable moment at the end of the limited-time event map. The ending; the second is to design innovative activities around "uniqueness", using props, voice, text and other forms to connect the mini-games in the activity with the activity map to stimulate players' desire to explore; the third is to focus on "staged" Carry out a progressive plot design to keep players fresh during the exploration process; fourth, organically combine elements of the limited-time map and the main map to trigger discussions among players about the overall world view of the game.

After the launch of the limited-time event map in version 1.6, user satisfaction survey results showed that within the first week, the average proportion of unlocking treasure chests on the map was 42%, which shows that players can actively participate in the new During the exploration of the map, Li Yixuan shared, "But the attempt to create a limited-time map was not smooth sailing. We also experienced painful lessons in the actual implementation of the past three summer limited activities."

Survey results show that the time players spend on the limited-time event map in version 1.6 "only accounts for" 17% of the total active time in the version, so the production team has introduced more content into the limited-time event map in version 2.8, hoping that it can Further enrich players’ gaming experience. However, the actual results were lower than expected. Both the treasure chest unlocking rate and the task completion rate of version 2.8 were lower than those of version 1.6. Players reported in the community that the pressure of excessive content accounted for 66% of all negative feedback. After analysis and review, the production team returned the content volume to the original 1.6 version in version 3.8, and received widespread praise from players.

(3.8 version limited-time event map scene)

Taking the 3.8 version of the summer limited-time event map as an example, the production team combined the atmosphere of summer vacation and created a realistic Drawing inspiration from the theme parks in , it added elements such as roller coasters and carnivals. As the plot slowly unfolds, the player repairs the core device after completing a series of tasks, and the huge Ferris wheel-like core wheel in the center of the map begins to rotate again. This shocking scene has become a popular place for players to take photos with their friends.

(A group photo of players and friends in the limited-time event map of version 3.8)

"Genshin Impact" is a product that focuses on operation and vitality. What I want to convey is a universal and beautiful value. At the end of the speech, Li Yixuan said, "Resonating with the precious memories of players, seeing players enthusiastically discussing the hidden clues they discovered while exploring the limited-time map in the community, and enjoying the fun of piecing together a complete story is exactly what we want to do through Summer." The limited-time event map brings unexpected surprises to players."

(Exquisite video produced by overseas players to commemorate version 1.6 summer limited-time event)

2021 At that time, "Genshin Impact" won the GDC Best Mobile Game of the Year award. So far, "Genshin Impact" has won multiple international gaming awards including the 2020 App Store and Google Play Game of the Year Awards, the 2021 TGA Best Mobile Game of the Year Award, and the 2022 TGA Players' Voice Award.

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