Genshin Impact has some fun online features for those that choose to engage with them. That said, one of the major selling points of the game was that it could be played entirely in single player if players didn't feel like teaming up with allies. After it was released, players discovered that the cooperative aspects of the game were surprisingly limited, seemingly encouraging singleplayer gameplay even more. Through all of this, one question looms: can players enjoy Genshin Impact offline, or does it require a stable internet connection in order to play?
There are a number of reasons that players might want to play Genshin Impact offline. The first and most obvious reason is if they simply don't have internet connection available. Internet can be hard to come by when traveling or during certain other circumstances, and if players are playing by themselves, there doesn't seem to be any reason why they should need an internet connection.
To cut to the chase, Genshin Impact cannot be played offline. In other words, players must maintain a stable internet connection the entire time they are playing or else they will be kicked out back to the main menu. Fans can only speculate at why this design decision was made, but only developer miHoYo knows the true answer. One potential reason is that character and save data are linked to miHoYo's Genshin Impact server rather than saved locally on the player's machine, but this still shouldn't completely limit offline play.
Genshin Impact isn't an MMO, so many players are confused or upset about the internet connection requirement, but it could also have something to do with in game events. In order to participate in ongoing events or make wishes on current event banners, players would need an internet connection. An offline mode might provide a way for players to cheat the system. Unfortunately, there isn't really any kind of workaround, nor does it seem like miHoYo is looking to implement an offline mode. For the time being, players are going to have to accept this limitation for what it is and simply enjoy playing Genshin Impact online.
Thankfully, Genshin Impact has recently started taking online account security a bit more seriously. While the PS4 accounts were always more secure, PC players were worried about the lack of two-factor authentication for some time. Despite how important this feature is, it was only implemented recently.
Genshin Impact is available now on Mobile, PC, and PS4, and later on Switch.