Genshin Impact age rating: a parents guide to Wishes, chat, and spending

• ✓Official rating above age 7
  ESRB: T; PEGI 16; App Store 13+
• ✓Contact with other players or strangers
  ESRB: Users Interact; App Store: chat
• ✓Purchases with real money
  Genesis Crystals, $0.99 to $99.99
• ✓Paid random items
  ESRB: In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)
• ✓Violence or scary content in rating descriptors
  ESRB: Fantasy Violence
• ✓Government lawsuits, fines, or safety warnings
  FTC: proposed $20 million loot-box order (2025)

Each flag is a yes-or-no fact from the sources on this page. The number is a count of flags, not a safety score. How we count.

Checked October 2026. Ratings and settings change; check the official source before you decide. What do these ratings mean?

Facts for parents, not medical or legal advice. If you're worried about your child, talk to your pediatrician.

What is Genshin Impact?

Short answer: A free open-world fantasy game by HoYoverse (the brand of Cognosphere), played on phones, PC, and PlayStation.

Players explore the world of Teyvat, fight monsters with swords, bows, and magic, and build a team of characters. Characters are collected mainly through Wishes, the game's random draws. Players can interact online, and a newer mode, Miliastra Wonderland, lets players meet friends in a lobby and build their own worlds. Apple lists messaging and chat, user-generated content, and social features.

Genshin Impact age rating: what's in it

Short answer: It's rated for teens in the US and for 16 and up in Europe.

• US & Canada (ESRB): T. The ESRB describes sword fights with fantasy creatures, female characters in revealing outfits with camera angles on their bodies, innuendo, a drinking game with drunk characters, and a few strong words.
• Europe & UK (PEGI): 16. PEGI says that after its rating criteria changed in June 2026, games with loot boxes or other paid random items get PEGI 16 by default.
• App Store: 13+. Google Play: Teen.
• Common Sense Media, an independent nonprofit, lists the app for ages 10 and up.

How Wishes work: paid random draws

Short answer: A Wish is a random draw for a character or weapon, and the currency for it can be bought with real money.

On the App Store, Genesis Crystals cost $0.99 for 60 up to $99.99 for 6,480, and a pack of 10 Intertwined Fates, the items spent on Wishes, costs $21.99. Guides such as Siliconera say one Fate costs 160 Primogems, the in-game currency that Genesis Crystals turn into. Players don't know which character they'll get before they pay. That's why the ESRB and Google Play label the game "In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)" and Apple says it "Contains Loot Boxes."

The FTC case: a proposed $20 million order

Short answer: In January 2025, HoYoverse agreed to a proposed FTC order with a $20 million civil penalty.

The FTC alleged that HoYoverse marketed Genshin Impact to children and collected their data without parental consent, misled players about the odds and cost of rare "five-star" prizes, and used a confusing currency system that was unfair to kids and teens. Under the proposed order, HoYoverse could not sell loot boxes to kids under 16 without a parent's consent, and would have to disclose odds and currency exchange rates. The FTC said the order must be approved by a federal judge to take effect, and we couldn't confirm that a judge has approved it. HoYoverse said many of the allegations are inaccurate.

The habit kids may copy: one more Wish

Each Wish is a surprise, and the next one might be the rare character. Kids who watch the draws, in the game or in videos, can pick up the "one more try" feeling.

Try tonight: the mystery cup

Hide a sticker under one of three cups, and put a second sticker in plain sight. Your child chooses: guess a cup, or take the sure one. Then ask: "Did you want it, or did you want the surprise?" In our program, this is the lesson "I'm the Boss of My Want": practicing the pause between wanting something and getting it.

What is the Genshin Impact age rating?

The ESRB rates it T (Teen) and PEGI rates it 16. Apple's App Store rates it 13+, and Google Play rates it Teen.

What should parents know about Genshin Impact? (parents guide)

It's a free fantasy adventure with online play and chat. Characters come from Wishes, paid random draws, and Genesis Crystals cost $0.99 to $99.99 on the App Store.

Is Genshin Impact safe for kids?

It's rated T by the ESRB and 16 by PEGI, with fantasy violence, suggestive content, chat, and paid random items. In 2025, HoYoverse agreed to a proposed $20 million FTC settlement over loot-box sales to kids and teens.

Did the FTC fine Genshin Impact?

In January 2025, HoYoverse agreed to a proposed order with the FTC that includes a $20 million civil penalty and bars selling loot boxes to kids under 16 without parental consent. The order needed a federal judge's approval, and we couldn't confirm that it was approved. HoYoverse said it believes many of the allegations are inaccurate.

More from “Is it good for kids?”