Genshin Impact is a free-to-play game and developer HoYoverse is dedicated to keeping it that way. Genshin Impact's arrival on Xbox consoles was announced at Gamescom 2024. This has raised some concerns about how the freemium model will work on the Xbox, which requires users to be subscribed to the Xbox Game Pass Core or Ultimate to be able to play multiplayer games online.
It turns out that Xbox owners don't need to worry. Speaking with Windows Central, a spokesperson from HoYoverse confirmed that Xbox players will not be required to have an Xbox subscription in order to play the game. The statement from HoYoverse asserts that "Genshin Impact is a free-to-play game. You do not need to purchase Game Pass Ultimate or Core to play the game in Co-Op Mode." They continue to note that Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will receive in-game bundles when the game launches, as well as in all coming version updates. They'll also be able to play the game via Xbox Cloud Gaming.
The game did the same when it launched on PlayStation in 2021. Playing most games on PlayStation also requires a subscription, but Genshin Impact is exempt...
