New Genshin Impact update renders game nearly unplayable on Pixel 10 series

Google has always insisted its in-house Tensor line of chips isn't meant to compete with high-end offerings from Qualcomm and MediaTek. Essentially, anyone trying to play high-fidelity games would be out of luck. Genshin Impact, one of the most resource-intensive games on the market, now has a hard time running on Google's newest smartphones.

A new post on the official Genshin Impact website highlights new minimum device requirements. For Android, it explicitly states, "non Power VR GPU", effectively singling out a bunch of older Apple A series chips (Apple A10X), some entry-level MediaTek devices (Helio G35) and most notably, the Tensor G5-powered Pixel 10 series, which uses a PowerVR GPU.

While Genshin Impact can still technically run on the Pixel 10, its performance is far from optimal, as exhibited by videos posted by gamers on X and Reddit. In both instances, Genshin Impact is rendered unplayable on the Pixel 10 Pro XL thanks to stutters and a semi-responsive touchscreen. That said, another user states the stutters are limited to certain areas and that the game works fine otherwise.

Either way, this appears to be an issue with PowerVR GPU drivers and not Genshin Impact. After all, the PowerVR DXT-48 in the Tensor G5 is potent enough to run most games, although one might have to sacrifice some visual fidelity.  Google is yet to acknowledge the issue, so there's no telling when a fix will arrive.