Ticket sales for Genshin Concert 2023 are now underway, and every location that has opened up so far has sold out almost immediately. Genshin Concert is a live orchestral performance showcasing some of the gorgeous music in Genshin Impact. Ticket sales are staggered based on location, with Singapore and Malaysia opening up first.

Both dates for Singapore’s concerts were sold out in a matter of minutes, described by one Reddit user as an “absolute bloodbath.” Malaysia’s ticketing website was overwhelmed entirely, resulting in an error where people couldn’t even join the queue.

It’s not just Asian locations that are mad for tickets though. Two American locations began their own ticket sales shortly thereafter. New York has two concerts, and both of them reached a ticket queue of over 4,000 people within five minutes of opening. At least the website is holding up though! The same can’t be said for the website handling Mexico’s sales, which was still returning a 508 error half an hour after opening.

Other locations in the US, Asia, and Europe have yet to open their ticket sales. Boston, Los Angeles, and Chicago tickets open tomorrow. If you’re at all interested in snagging a ticket for yourself, be prepared to camp out early to get your place in the queue and may the Archons be with you.

Ticket Gacha and Scalping

The mad rush for tickets has some people suggesting that ticket sales should be based on a lottery — adding a gacha element to the gacha game’s live concert. The idea is being handled with varying degrees of seriousness, with some users joking about buying multiple tickets for a chance at a VIP seat.

Scalping has already begun too. Sale listings for Singapore and Malaysia tickets have begun appearing on Carousell, a marketplace platform for Southeast Asia. Many of these listings are auction-style, with most bids going much higher than the original selling price.

The post Genshin Concert tickets sell out in minutes, scalping has already begun appeared first on Destructoid.

When I saw that Honkai: Star Rail was having a special collaboration event with Sunright Tea Studio, I was intrigued. Most HoYoverse collabs in the past have been exclusive to locations in Asia, so it’s a rare occasion for one of these to happen in the United States. On top of that, there happened to be a Sunright about 15 minutes away from me, so I decided to check it out.

The event officially began on July 19, and my brother happened to be in the area, so we paid a visit that evening. I wasn’t expecting too much of a crowd since, well, how many passionate anime gacha game lovers could there be in my little city?

Turns out, quite a few. The place was bright and bustling. A sports car wrapped in anime girl vinyl sat proudly outside. The store itself was full of boba enjoyers posing with cardboard stands and posters of Kafka and Blade, the two new characters in Honkai: Star Rail. Two baristas worked frantically behind the counter as a trail of paper tickets spewed forth from a printer.

After waiting in line to order, we made it to the kiosk. There are two themed drinks as part of the collab event: Kafka’s Blushing Blueberry Splendor and Blade’s Karmic Chocolate Matcha. They’re quite expensive at $6.75 before taxes — ”Star Rail robbery,” my brother called it. I ordered one of each, for review purposes of course. It took almost an hour from arriving at the store to receiving our drinks.

[caption id="attachment_397645" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Image via Destructoid[/caption]

Buy tea, get goodies

The primary reason Star Rail fans might want to attend this event is because of the additional items you get with each drink. Buying two or more of the collaboration drinks gets you:

• Two cards with an image of Kafka or Blade that come with codes for in-game items
• Two square cardstock coasters with chibi images of Kafka or Blade
• Two themed cardboard drink holders
• A few stickers featuring chibis of various Star Rail characters (amount can vary)

The Blushing Blueberry Splendor is a blueberry smoothie with some cheese foam and jasmine tea jelly. It’s quite sweet (I recommend 50% sugar) with a strong blueberry flavor. The jasmine tea jelly has a satisfying consistency, but I wasn’t sure if I liked having it in a drink. It was very thick and chunky, being a smoothie with bits of blueberries and jelly. Drinking the whole thing felt like I had eaten a full meal. Still, I thought it was tasty and worth trying.

The Karmic Chocolate Matcha is basically fancy chocolate milk with some matcha in it. I’m not typically a fan of matcha, but the slight bitterness of the chocolate and matcha together was quite nice. It was creamy, smooth, and sweet, but not too sweet. I preferred the chocolate matcha over Kafka’s blueberry smoothie.

Many of my friends are avid Honkai: Star Rail fans but didn’t have a Sunright Tea Studio location near them, so I ended up making multiple trips to grab some goodies for them. The crowds have thankfully decreased, so you probably won’t have to wait as long as I did on the first day. The collaboration event lasts until August 31, so there’s still some time for Trailblazers to try these drinks and get some souvenirs!

The post I tried Honkai: Star Rail bubble tea at Sunright Tea Studio appeared first on Destructoid.

HoYoverse announced via social media channels that two new characters will be coming to Genshin Impact: Wriothesley and Neuvillette.

What do we know about Wriothesley and Neuvillette?

Wriothesley (apparently pronounced “rizz-ly” or “rise-ly”) has a Cryo Vision and is the Lord of the Fortress of Meropide, which is some sort of prison at the bottom of the sea. He is Ousia-aligned; although his previous character art showed him with a Pneuma Vision shape, this was swiftly corrected. Aside from this, we know nothing about his weapon or kit, and will have to wait for further announcements to see how he plays.

Neuvillette is much more mysterious, with some of his information censored with triple question marks. We do know that he is the Chief Justice of Fontaine and some kind of father figure to the Melusines. He is likely very important to the main story in Genshin Impact, which would give a reason for all the secrecy. Neuvillette uses Hydro, but not through a Vision. What exactly he is and how he uses his powers are a great mystery, possibly with answers in upcoming Archon Quests.

[caption id="attachment_396793" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Image via HoYoverse[/caption]

When are Wriothesley and Neuvillette coming to Genshin Impact?

Drip marketing like this usually comes in two versions before the characters are released. This means we can expect Wriothesley and Neuvillette sometime in Version 4.1 of Genshin Impact. Whether they will be in the first half or second remains to be seen, along with who will accompany their banners.

If you are interested in either of these characters, you may want to start saving Primogems now.

The post New characters Wriothesley and Neuvillette announced for Genshin Impact appeared first on Destructoid.