What started with only a handful of playable characters back when Genshin Impact first launched in 2020 has slowly become a massive archive of unique playable characters. Over the years, Genshin Impact’ s growing roster of characters has constantly evolved the game’s meta and given players countless options for team composition. And with no end in sight for the game’s ongoing support just yet, there’s sure to be many more new characters to come in future updates.
As of the current version 5.5 update for Genshin Impact, there are just over 90 playable characters available. Based on the regular release schedule for new characters, this would put Genshin Impact on track to reach 100 playable characters sometime around the version 6.0 update, which is currently anticipated for September 2025. Given how big of a milestone this will be, one way to mark the occasion is for Genshin Impact to give the honor of being the 100th playable character to someone special.
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Who Could Be the 100th Playable Character in Genshin Impact?
- The Traveler’s sibling, assuming it fits with the timeline and events of the overarching story, since having access to both Travelers could be a game-changer, especially for free-to-play players.
- Turning an existing NPC into a playable character could be a memorable fan service, given how popular these characters already are.
- Finally introducing a Hydro Claymore character could round out the roster with the only missing weapon and Element combo among the existing playable characters.
- A character with a new Element, weapon type, or both could open the door for future characters to utilize.
With Genshin Impact approaching 100 playable characters, this milestone shouldn’t pass without marking the occasion with a particularly special new character. Depending on where Genshin Impact’s overarching story is at by the time this milestone is reached, this could be the perfect opportunity to make a popular, existing NPC available as a playable character. Otherwise, this could also be a great chance to expand the roster with characters who can use a new Element, weapon type, or both.
Among these potential ways that Genshin Impact could celebrate the milestone of having 100 playable characters, it might be worth holding a community vote to determine and pursue the most popular option. This would involve players in the celebration and help ensure the 100th character is a memorable and welcome addition.
After 100 Characters, New Elements and Weapon Types in Genshin Impact Seem Inevitable
There was a lot of speculation that Skirk could introduce a new Element in her anticipated release in the version 5.7 update predicted for June 2025. Unfortunately, though, recent leaks for Skirk’s kit report that Skirk will be a Cryo character. However, introducing a new Element to Genshin Impact still arguably feels like an inevitable pathway for future updates to explore anyway, so the upcoming milestone of 100 playable characters could be a great time to finally pull the trigger on this feature.
Otherwise, it might also be time to introduce a new weapon type to Genshin Impact. Between a new weapon type and a new Element, this could open up all new possibilities for meta team compositions, and it would give future characters a better chance of standing out from some of the existing, best-in-slot characters of a particular weapon and Element combo.
Genshin Impact’s Most Popular NPCs Deserve the Playable Character Treatment
By now, there are plenty of popular NPCs in Genshin Impact who arguably deserve the chance to become a playable character, such as Capitano, Dainsleif, Signora, and/or Xbalanque. While bringing back some of these fan-favorite NPCs and involving them with Events and story quests could give them another turn in the spotlight, making them playable characters would allow them to be permanent, timeless members of players' journeys. Since there is already a demand from fans for these characters to be playable, it seems like money left on the table not to upgrade these NPCs to playable character status.
Genshin Impact
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 81 /100 Critics Rec: 87%
- Released
- September 28, 2020
- ESRB
- Teen / Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
- Publisher(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Unity
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Action, Adventure, Gacha, Open-World
