Leaving Teyvat: Gendered Expectations and Exit Discourses

This paper examines why players quit or disengage from Genshin Impact and migrate to Love and Deepspace, framing player exit as a form of critical commentary rather than a rejection of the gacha genre itself. Drawing on game studies frameworks that treat extra-game spaces as integral to play, the author conducts a thematic analysis of roughly 400 comments from a single Reddit thread discussing this migration. The study positions itself against prior research, which has largely focused on involuntary departures such as server shutdowns or network problems, or on migration between MMORPGs, by centering intentional, player-initiated quitting as a meaningful practice.

The analysis identifies several prominent themes. Players express frustration with character design, particularly the scarcity of male five-star characters and the perceived prioritization of sexualized female characters aimed at a male audience. Criticism of the Natlan expansion centers on storylines and writing quality, which players contrast unfavorably with earlier content. Other recurring themes include emotional disconnection from the game's current state and overwhelm or burnout tied to exploration and quest design. By comparison, Love and Deepspace is described as emotionally rewarding, oriented toward the female player experience, focused on emotional intimacy, and offering more digestible tasks, combining visual novel elements with combat in a mobile-only format.

The study's scope is limited to a single online discussion thread, and its findings are presented as preliminary. The author states that the work does not rely on ethnographic methodology but instead treats Reddit as a space for player practice, interaction, and critique, applying thematic analysis as outlined by Braun and Clarke. Within these constraints, the paper concludes that quitting functions as a quiet but consequential critique, signaling a shift in player expectations regarding storytelling, representation, and emotional investment in gacha games.