Five and a half years in — and it still isn’t slowing down. Genshin Impact is gearing up for one of its most anticipated updates yet: players are finally heading to Snezhnaya, the last unexplored nation in Teyvat. But the excitement comes with a catch. Some Android users may find their devices simply can’t keep up anymore. And the issue isn’t about raw power — it comes down to a specific piece of hardware: the GPU architecture.
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What System Requirements Are Changing in Version 7.0
HoYoverse got ahead of the complaints this time, announcing the changes before launch instead of after. Officially, the minimum and recommended specs for PC, iOS, PlayStation, and Xbox aren’t changing at all — so most players can relax. The baseline Android requirements also stay the same: Snapdragon 660 or Helio G88, 4GB of RAM, Android 10.
The catch lies elsewhere. The game is getting visually heavier — new character models, upgraded environment textures for Snezhnaya, and more complex effects. And that’s where the problem surfaces: some older GPUs simply can’t handle the new rendering pipeline, regardless of how much memory or CPU power sits next to them.
Which Smartphones Are at Risk
This isn’t a blanket “weak phones” warning — it’s about specific GPU architectures that were common in budget and mid-range Android devices between 2018 and 2020.
| Chip / Architecture | Risk After the Update |
|---|---|
| Mali-G52 MP2 | High — possible crashes |
| Mali-G57 MP | High — unstable performance |
| Imagination BXM | High |
| Older PowerVR chips | High |
The symptoms HoYoverse itself describes: crashes, black screens, freezing, and general instability after installing the patch. It’s not necessarily “the game won’t launch at all” for everyone — more like a gamble, where some sessions end in a crash and others don’t.
Why HoYoverse Is Raising the Bar Again Right Now
Over the years, the studio has settled into a clear pattern: every major new region comes with a graphical leap. It happened with Fontaine, it happened with Natlan, and it’s happening again ahead of Snezhnaya. The developers frame this as keeping the visuals up to modern standards — after all, being in its sixth year on the market doesn’t mean the game should stop evolving visually.
On the flip side, this is the classic dilemma of any live-service title: the longer a game runs, the further apart “new graphics” and “old hardware” drift. That gap eventually has to show itself — and this is one of those moments.
What to Do If Your Phone Is in the Risk Zone
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Check your chipset model using AIDA64 or CPU-Z before updating, not after.
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If your chip is on the list, don’t rush to update the day the patch drops — let the community test stability first.
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Keep the PC version as a backup option: your account is unified, so progress carries over.
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Watch HoYoverse’s official posts — targeted optimization patches for problematic GPUs usually follow after complaints pile up.
When Version 7.0 Launches and What It Brings
The release date is August 12, 2026. Alongside the patch, players will finally head into Snezhnaya, where the Tsaritsa, the Cryo Archon, and — based on early teasers — a major reveal about the Fatui’s true role in the story are waiting. Beyond the new region, two new characters have already been announced: Odile and Alesha, whose first teasers have already spread across the community.
What This Means for Players
For the vast majority, nothing changes at all — PC, consoles, iPhone, and recent Android devices will keep running the game exactly as before. But if you’re holding onto a phone from five years ago, it’s worth checking the chip list ahead of time and deciding whether you’re willing to risk instability for the visual upgrade Snezhnaya brings. Once again, HoYoverse is showing that the bigger the content, the higher the hardware price of entry — and that’s worth factoring in now, not on launch day.
