The Chinese studio behind ‘Genshin Impact’ built a new fantasy nation. Players say it’s just modern Russia — frozen, broke, and rotten with corruption.

The “Merciless Frost” update to the popular Chinese-developed game Genshin Impact added a new country called Snezhnaya, inspired by Eastern Europe — and, of course, Russia. Officially, the studio created a fictional fantasy state. But the situation there is eerily similar to conditions in real-life Russia: corruption, high prices, and resource shortages. If you look for it, you can even see a reference to Alexey Navalny in a new character named Alyosha. Meduza explains what Genshin Impact is ...