A Glimpse into the World of Unlicensed Fan Merch
In late 2022, I purchased my first Genshin Impact fan zine and learned about the world of unlicensed fan merchandise. In 2023, it finally arrived!
On episode #64 of The Asians Represent Podcast, I spoke with board game designer Brother Ming about unlicensed fan creations and our love of Genshin Impact. During the episode we also discussed the upcoming release of Ming’s unlicensed game Genshin Tarot, and the differences between its production and his previous game The Fire Emblem Board Game.
Nintendo has a reputation for being protective of it’s IP and ruthlessly taking down fan projects. Back in 2018, Brother Ming released The Fire Emblem Board Game - a print-and-play tabletop adaptation of the popular mobile game (report by Kotaku). While the digital files for the game were free, Ming was charging (albeit just to cover printing costs) for physical copies of the game.
As you can probably understand, the game is no longer available on Brother Ming’s website. However, he had another Fire Emblem inspired game, Anna’s Roundtable, that will be receiving an expansion in the future.
Genshin Tarot, on the other hand, won’t face the same obstacles that The Fire Emblem Board Game faced. Why? Because for-profit fan creations are actually encouraged by the publisher of Genshin Impact (to a limit). I mean, it’s free marketing for them. The fanbase is already very active with the game itself (which is free-to-play with a paid gacha element), why not keep the creator base healthy and engaged? The cycle continues.
miHoYo, the developer and publisher of Genshin Impact, has adopted a creator-friendly policy when it comes to unlicensed merchandise. In their Genshin Impact Overseas Fan-Made Merchandising Guide (Excluding Mainland China), they state:
Travelers [referring to players] are free to create original secondary content from already published content of the Genshin Impact series and produce physical merchandise to give away or sell.
While fan art creators “may not register the relevant content of the creation as a trademark in any country or region”, they are able to engage in the “production of light hobby merchandise resulting from fan-to-fan exchanges is allowed for fan groups and individuals” in a way that isn’t subject to prior declaration or financial limit.
As I wait for Genshin Tarot to be released, Brother Ming recommended Heroine Impact, a Genshin Impact fanzine collecting illustrations and fanfics featuring playable characters from the Mondstadt, Liyue and Inazuma game regions.
I’ve never purchased anything like this before. The production quality is incredible - the paper doesn’t feel cheap and the ink is vibrant. The art is stunning. I love the stylistic variety. Check out this video preview below!
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This is really fascinating. It would be a better world and community if more companies took a more liberal stance on community / fan content (even paid content!)