Understanding Transmedia Character-Centric Discourse in Gacha Games: A Social Semiotic Analysis of Genshin Impact

This paper proposes a social semiotic framework for analysing how gacha games, using Genshin Impact as its primary case, deploy characters as organising principles that operate both semiotically and commercially across transmedia contexts. Drawing on Halliday's systemic functional linguistics and the multimodal frameworks of Kress and van Leeuwen, the author argues that existing multimodal research has tended to examine single media in isolation, leaving transmedia character discourse underexplored. The study is positioned within digital discourse studies and is framed as part of ongoing doctoral research, with preliminary rather than conclusive findings.

The analytical approach integrates Kress's (2010) model of layout, which attends to spatial positioning and text-image relations, with Adami's (2015) framework for website interactivity, which treats interface elements as both representational signs and actionable nodes. Together these are applied to character-centric visual hierarchies. The dataset is divided along two monetisation dimensions identified in prior scholarship: the character-foregrounding user interfaces of the game itself, representing direct revenue, and officially curated social media content, representing indirect revenue. This division is intended to capture both in-game arrangement and patterns of circulation across platforms.

According to the preliminary observations reported, Genshin Impact's semiotic arrangements prioritise character visibility and interactivity to a degree that distinguishes them from common role-playing game design conventions. The paper does not present a detailed quantitative sample, corpus size, or formal statistical results, and its claims should be understood as provisional pending the completion of the broader research. Its stated contributions lie in developing a systematic micro-analytical method for character-centric discourse, with potential relevance to applied linguistics, game studies, research on East Asian gaming cultures, and interdisciplinary understanding of transmedia storytelling.