Genshin Impact’s new web event uses nightmare-inducing AI animation

There’s a new web event for Genshin Impact to promote the release of its new OST album, but some seemingly AI-generated artwork featured in the event leaves a lot to be desired.

The web event is called “Glad Tidings from Afar,” and you’re supposed to listen to some of the new Fontaine OST tracks, then send them as gifts. The recipients include various Genshin Impact characters, represented by chibis. When you send some music to a character, you’re “rewarded” with an animated version of their chibi emote. 

The problem is that some of these animated Genshin Impact chibis were very clearly made using some kind of AI tool. Tighnari, for example, can’t decide how many fingers he’s supposed to have or which way his thumb is supposed to be facing.

Yun Jin has a blinking animation that squooshes the area of her face where her eyes are. This is all well and good, except one of her eyes is already closed in a wink. The outline of her bangs also gets pulled down during this motion, resulting in a weird black smear.

Speaking of bangs, what on earth is going on with Diona’s hairline here?

Aside from these specific examples, every single character’s mouth moves in an unsettling way that social media users have compared to Annoying Orange. You can view all of the animated emotes in this album.

The web event as a whole seems to represent a noticeable drop in quality compared to previous ones. The Genshin Impact logo on the top left corner of the landing screen is cut off for me. Web events usually have an info page that lists the rules of the event, but that page is missing this time. Some of the text is unnecessarily small and uses a font color that’s difficult to read. There’s no account integration, so rewards are given via codes, which results in a limited quantity. I know it’s just a web event, but it’s hard to believe that it was made by the same people who created the other web events in the past.

The sad part is that if the Genshin Impact team had just used still PNGs instead of taking shortcuts with AI animation, people likely wouldn’t have noticed anything amiss. Sure, there would still be some issues, but the atrocious AI animation draws a spotlight on everything else that’s wrong with the event. There’s already been a Reddit post on this topic, and the replies to HoYoverse’s original announcement share similar sentiments.

Where can I find this web event?

If you’d like to see the emotes in context, check out the web event on its official page. You’ll see different animations depending on whether you gift a piece of music to the right character.

The web event lasts until October 28, and you can get 40 Primogems from completing it, though the Primogem rewards are limited in quantity. Act fast if you want those freemos.