Summary
- Genshin Impact players in the US must verify their age by July 18 due to an FTC settlement.
- The game's gacha system incentivizes spending real money, with conversion rates often being obfuscated.
- Age verification will be needed for real money transactions in the US, and failing to verify will lead to account suspension.
Genshin Impact players based in the United States will need to verify their age by July 18, as part of the settlement between HoYoverse and the Federal Trade Commission. While Genshin Impact allows players to obtain any of its characters for free, the amount of currency available is deliberately limited. As a gacha game, it incentivizes players to spend real money, and the conversion rate is often purposefully obfuscated.
In order to guarantee a 5-Star character in Genshin Impact, players need to buy 180 Intertwined Wishes. A single Intertwined Wish costs 160 Primogems. 160 Primogems convert into 160 Genesis Crystals, but Genesis Crystals are only offered in packs of 60, 330, 1090, 2240, 3880, and 8080. If this process seems needlessly complicated, that is very much by design.
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Due to the inherently predatory nature of gacha games, the Federal Trade Commission targeted HoYoverse with a lawsuit, claiming that the company illegally targeted children with gambling mechanics. The lawsuit was settled in January 2025 for $20 million, requiring Genshin Impact to implement an age verification system for its players from the United States. According to HoYoverse, the verification process will roll out by May 20, but American players will have time until July 18 to verify their age. As part of this change, Genesis Crystals in Genshin Impact will also display the exact number of Intertwined Wishes that each pack provides, including the direct cost of a single gacha pull.
Genshin Impact: How Much Is Each Genesis Crystal Pack Worth?
|
Genesis Crystals |
Price in USD |
Number of Pulls |
Price per Pull |
|---|---|---|---|
|
60 |
$0.99 |
0.3 |
$2.64 |
|
330 |
$4.99 |
2.0 |
$2.42 |
|
1090 |
$14.99 |
6.8 |
$2.21 |
|
2240 |
$29.99 |
14.0 |
$2.15 |
|
3880 |
$49.99 |
24.2 |
$2.07 |
|
8080 |
$99.99 |
50.5 |
$1.98 |
It's important to note that American players below the age of 16 will not be banned from Genshin Impact, but will be prevented from making any direct purchases. Genshin Impact players who fail to verify their age by July 18 will have their accounts suspended and their chat history deleted. Furthermore, players below the age of 13 will have any personal information deleted. For now, these changes will only apply to the United States, and American players will even be able to directly purchase Intertwined Wishes in Genshin Impact for real money.
While Genshin Impact has made positive changes to its gacha, these changes are ultimately an important victory for the consumer, especially for players who sometimes forget how expensive a single pull can be. Despite being a well-polished, thrilling open-world experience, Genshin Impact can be a poor outlet for reckless or impulsive spending. Its current update, Version 5.6, allows players to wish for a total of twelve 5-Star characters, with many of them only returning after a year-long absence.
Genshin Impact
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 81 /100 Critics Rec: 87%
- Released
- September 28, 2020
- ESRB
- Teen / Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
- Publisher(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Unity
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Action, Adventure, Gacha, Open-World
