Genshin Impact casually reveals two new characters months ahead of their release

Genshin Impact
(Image credit: MiHoYo)

Genshin Impact's next major update drops on Wednesday, but developer MiHoYo did something surprising today and revealed two new characters presumably coming in July's 1.7 update. The first of those revealed is Sayu, a four-star Anemo character that is rumored to be a healer (her weapon type hasn't been officially revealed yet). She's apparently a Ninja and hails from the Inazuma region, which will be the first major continent added to Genshin Impact when it launches later this year.

Alongside Sayu, MiHoYo also revealed Yoimiya, a five-star Pyro archer who also hails from Inazuma. Again, details are extremely scarce at this point as all MiHoYo has revealed is that Sayu is the owner of the Naganohara Fireworks, which presumably is an important business in Inazuma that will somehow relate to the larger story.

Aside from the character art, there's not much more to say. It's a bit weird that MiHoYo is showcasing these new additions to the roster so early, though. Update 1.6 arrives on Wednesday and we only just recently got a look at the new characters coming alongside it. So it's anyone's guess when Sayu and Yoimiya will be playable.

Traditionally Genshin Impact runs on a loose six-week schedule of major updates, but we don't have much insight into what's beyond the next patch. We do know that we're slowly inching toward the release of Inazuma, a whole new region to explore that will represent a sizable expansion to the base game, but MiHoYo's exact roadmap is still a mystery. That said, I'm not complaining. It's cool to see Sayu and Yoimiya finally revealed. Hopefully we'll have more details on what update they'll accompany soon.

For more on Genshin Impact, check out our character tier list and guide to all the new features coming in patch 1.6, Midsummer Island Adventure

Steven Messner

With over 7 years of experience with in-depth feature reporting, Steven's mission is to chronicle the fascinating ways that games intersect our lives. Whether it's colossal in-game wars in an MMO, or long-haul truckers who turn to games to protect them from the loneliness of the open road, Steven tries to unearth PC gaming's greatest untold stories. His love of PC gaming started extremely early. Without money to spend, he spent an entire day watching the progress bar on a 25mb download of the Heroes of Might and Magic 2 demo that he then played for at least a hundred hours. It was a good demo.

Read more
Genshin Impact 5.5 livestream codes - Flower festival
All Genshin Impact 5.5 livestream codes
Genshin Impact 5.4 codes - Mavuika fighting Il Capitano
All Genshin Impact 5.4 livestream codes
Monster Hunter Wilds benchmark
The Monster Hunter Wilds roadmap includes Mizutsune, a gathering hub, and the return of the secret story boss
Monster Hunter Wilds palico
Monster Hunter Wilds' first free update will feature 'a whole host of new additions' and a majestic water wyvern for players to blow sky high
A hunter digs in to some delicious dumplings in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds' first title update is overflowing with new stuff: A long-awaited Grand Hub, Arch-tempered Monsters, Arena Quests, and most importantly, fashion
Three hyper light breaker characters running toward camera viewed from below.
A month into early access, Hyper Light Breaker has already added a new playable character, with a perk designed for players who like to 'shoot fast and shoot a lot'
Latest in RPG
kingdom come deliverance 2 thunderstone quest
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's masterful quest design can be summed up by one wonderfully weird search for a magic stone
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Latest in News
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened