We covered the failed boycott on Genshin Impact and Zenless Zone Zero developer miHoYo, however it seems the developer recast its voice actors for supporting the same boycott on games they worked on.
Courtney Lin, a voice actor on several miHoYo games like Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero, has been recast in both games as of July 31st and August 14th, respectively (first noticed by YouTuber Hero Hei). Lin voiced HuoHuo in Honkai: Star Rail and Lucy in Zenless Zone Zero.
Lin publicly voiced support for the boycott which claimed her employer, miHoYo, was racist while also accusing their games of “cultural appropriation and whitewashing.” Curiously, the other recast English voice actor in Zenless Zone Zero for Soukaku hasn’t been publicly announced.
“Oof jumping back on twitter to say your voices matter and I’m so proud of our community for using theirs! Retweet, email, speak up,” Lin said. “Our community is strong.”
It’s worth noting the previous post by Lin was made a couple days after the miHoYo boycott campaign ramped up and started rallying both fans and voice actors to try swaying the company.
“I think it’s safe to say that we have all had enough of the erasure of our cultures and identities,” an account dedicated to the boycott previously said. “Today I introduce you all to Boycott Hoyoverse. We will be an account sharing how you can boycott. Spread the word! Anything helps.”
Despite the boycott’s petition earning over 100,000 signatures, miHoYo/HoYoverse’s latest game, Zenless Zone Zero, raked in over a hundred million dollars in its first month – leading many to question the validity of the petition’s signatures.
Some have speculated the recasting is the result of another SAG-AFTRA strike, however, the decision was made days before the union’s National Board gave power to its Chief Negotiator to declare a strike.
Furthermore, another Genshin Impact voice actor for character Sucrose, played by Valeria Rodriguez, further confirms Lin and other voice actors were actively supporting the boycott for their employer.
“I’m in the comments verbally beating haters, V Nation- join me in my crusade,” Rodriguez said. “Courtney is an incredibly kind and caring human being. She doesn’t deserve this. TO ARMS!!!”
When fans of the games asked why Lin’s earlier post was getting so many negative responses for supporting the boycott, Rodriguez proceeded to call them racists.
“It’s more so the racist Genshin (Impact) fans coming out of the woodwork because she dared to agree with us wanting better representation,” Rodriguez said.
At the time of writing miHoYo/HoYoverse haven’t commented on recasting Lin and other actors, though it’s worth noting both games don’t use actors repped by companies under SAG-AFTRA, and thus remain unaffected by a strike.
Genshin Impact has been available on Windows PC (via the Epic Games Store and official website), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Android, iOS, and coming soon to Nintendo Switch. Check out our review here!
Zenless Zone Zero has been available on PlayStation 5, iOS (via the App Store), Android (via Google Play), and PC (via direct download and the Epic Games Store).
