Genshin Impact Leaks Tease Boat Travel Coming In 1.6

Fans of Genshin Impact may be able to travel by boat, according to a new leak about the 1.6 update. While that’s still a while away, the idea of hitting the high seas in Genshin Impact sounds good to many players. Traveling in Genshin Impact is rather slow, so having another option in between walking everywhere and just teleporting will be a welcome change.   

Genshin Impact is miHoYo’s hit free-to-play RPG that has taken the gaming world by storm since releasing back in the latter half of 2020. While the game is still in development, with only the first two zones being released, players have been pouring money into the open-world adventure game. In only six months, Genshin Impact has grossed over $1 billion in revenue, making money from in-game purchases.

The latest update to Genshin Impact was the 1.4 patch, which introduced the Hangouts event and the character of Rosaria. The next Genshin Impact patch 1.5, is slated for the end of April, so the 1.6 patch is still a while away. Even still, fans are looking ahead to future updates and seeking out clues as to where the game may be headed. Thanks to a recent leak online, more information about the 1.6 patch has surfaced online. The latest leak, from a trusted source on the Genshin Impact Discord server user Genshin_Tz (reported by Dualshockers), states that boats are the next big feature to be introduced. This aspect was then confirmed by Genshin Report, a Twitter account known for leaking Genshin Impact data.
From what I’ve heard, boats will be used in a similar capacity to how you reach the Pearl Galley in Liyue.There are currently no plans to let players steer the boats a la Assassin’s Creed.

The information seems to indicate that these boat mechanics will work similarly to the boat players used to reach the Pearl Galley in Liyue. New islands from the Inazuma region are supposedly going to be added as well, with players reaching them on boats thanks to the help of Beidou’s fleet. Just what will be introduced in these islands is unknown, but most likely there will be more treasure, collectibles, and quests to complete. It’s a little disappointing that players won’t be commanding their own ship, similar to Assassin’s Creed Black Flag, but introducing more boats means more areas to explore. With the expansion of traveling mechanics, maybe more zones and areas will be made available as well. Currently, the 1.6 update is expected to release in June.

Genshin Impact’s roadmap has been extended recently, due to the ongoing success of the game, with the developers looking to build up the game for another 12 years worth of content. Perhaps in the future, there will be personal boats that players can customize and control, but for now, fans will have to make do with the addition of a new zone instead.

Liv Harris is an Australian Freelance Journalist based in Sydney. She is an avid gamer and loves TV/Movies. Liv writes mostly writes about video games, the latest movies and TV shows. She wrote for Kotaku and Gamespot before joining Screen Rant.