HoYoverse Sponsoring Variety Show Sparks Controversy as Miyawaki Sakura's Genshin Collab Triggers 'Zelda Fans'

Today's tea: HoYoverse has silently made another move overseas by sponsoring 'Fearless Kkura,' a popular YouTube variety show featuring Sakura Miyawaki of the K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM.

In the show, Sakura invited Nam Do-hyung, the Korean voice actor for Tartaglia from 'Genshin Impact,' as a guest. Marked as a 'paid promotion' on YouTube, it was clearly an official marketing campaign. The quality was praised for being both entertaining and professional.

However, the situation took a strange turn. Some domestic Chinese fans expressed outrage, with some complaining on social media. The reason? They discovered that Sakura had been a fan of 'The Legend of Zelda' back in 2018, and they viewed her promotion of 'Genshin Impact' as a betrayal of their gaming elitism.

The community reacted with mockery. Some netizens were impressed by the professionalism of the idol's work, while others ridiculed the 'Zelda fans' for their 'spiritual cleanliness' and toxic gatekeeping—a phenomenon sarcastically dubbed 'Genshin-induced hypersensitivity' (原激化). Many pointed out that true gamers generally don't care about such trivial brand rivalries.