Genshin Impact anniversary rewards: Events, banners, and bonuses

Is that all there is? Developer miHoYo has announced most of the rewards for the first anniversary of Genshin Impact, its smash-hit open-world roleplaying game. And frankly, they’re pretty underwhelming, especially considering Genshin Impact has earned over one billion dollars in revenue during its first year.

Here’s everything we know about the 2021 Genshin Impact anniversary.

When is the 2021 Genshin Impact anniversary date?

Genshin Impact released on September 28, 2020. The first anniversary will be on September 28, 2021, which occurs during Patch 2.1.

What are the 2021 Genshin Impact anniversary banners?

MiHoYo has not announced any banners specific to the anniversary. Players will receive the exact same banners currently expected for Version 2.1.

The first banner will consist of the five-star Electro Archon, Baal. She’s a Polearm user that can briefly wield a sword while her Elemental Burst is active. She’ll be joined by the four-star Electro Bow user, Sara Kujou.

Kokomi, the five-star Hydro Catalyst character will lead the second banner in Version 2.1. She’s currently considered to be a decent new healer. Kokomi will be joined by the four-star characters Xingqiu, Rosaria, and Beidou.

If you’re playing on PlayStation, Aloy will be a free five-star character available just in time for the first anniversary.

These are the only new characters that you can currently expect to obtain in Version 2.1.

What are the 2021 Genshin Impact anniversary events?

In conjunction with the anniversary, Genshin Impact is also celebrating the Moonchase festival, which is unreleased to the anniversary. Moonchase is based on the Chinese holiday, the mid-autumn festival.

There are two events remaining in Genshin Impact Version 2.1

• Moonlight Merriment – a cooking event that focuses on your making tasty grub throughout Liyue. This is part of the Moonchase Festival.
• Spectral Secrets – finding the new Spectre enemy that has appeared across Inazuma.

Neither event ties directly into the anniversary. Although, it wouldn’t be surprising if miHoYo announced a birthday extravaganza. Perhaps just a free in-game cake, like what they do for player birthdays? Or maybe Genshin Impact could utilize Yoimiya’s firework specialty to put on a show in Inazuma?

What are the 2021 Genshin Impact anniversary rewards?

There will be a login event called Passage Of Clouds And Stars for the anniversary. Players who can log-in on seven days between September 28 and October 12 will receive these rewards:

• 10 Intertwined Fate
• 80,000 Mora
• 18 Mystic Enhancement Ores
• Eight Hero's Wit

In addition to the log-in event, there are many celebrations for the Genshin Impact fandom happening outside of the game. These often come with some in-game rewards as well.

• An Unforgettable Journey (September 28 – October 12) – watch events from the first year of Genshin Impact online to win Primogems, Mora, Mystic Enhancement Ore, and Hero’s Wit.
• A Message in Time (September 28 – October 7) – participate in a raffle to possible earn Blessing of the Welkin Moon for 30 days and 100,000 Mora

There are other external events, like a cosplay contest and another raffle, but these don’t hold game-related rewards. For example, the cosplay contest might earn you Apple AirPods or a Razor DeathAdder V2. The other events offer a meager Primogem sum of 100 for just 1000 players. None of that will be particularly helpful for improving your Genshin Impact experience.

There might be more in store from miHoYo. The Genshin Impact leaker Ubatcha has claimed there will be a live broadcast on the actual anniversary. This might have some additional announcements for players.

How does the 2021 Genshin Impact anniversary compare to Honkai Impact?

In addition to Genshin Impact, miHoYo also develops a free-to-play gacha game called Honkai Impact, which has been available globally for nearly four years. We can possibly use Genshin’s sister game to predict further anniversary rewards.

For the first anniversary, Honkai awarded players new costumes, areas, characters, and free Crystals.

During later anniversaries, rewards became more robust. Players received even more costumes, exclusive characters, new anniversary cosmetics, real-world items, and free characters.

Genshin Impact’s refusal to pony up more goodies for the first anniversary might be because the game is so new. Future anniversaries might offer better rewards, as the game has more items to give away for free.