In Seoul's Yanghwa Hangang Park, a forest has taken root that no single hand can claim to have planted. To mark the sixth anniversary of Genshin Impact, HoYoverse Korea transformed the ordinary steps of 530,000 players into 4,010 living trees — a quiet argument that collective, distributed action can bridge the distance between digital life and ecological consequence. The project asks an old question in a new register: when millions of small, unremarkable acts are gathered and given direction, what becomes possible?
HoYoverse Plants 4,010 Trees in Seoul Forest Built by 530,000 Genshin Impact Players
Half a million people walked, and that became a forest.
Mark
So half a million people walked, and that became a forest. How does that actually work?
Mimi
Players participated in a walking campaign over several months. Their steps were tracked and converted into a commitment to plant trees. The company then organized volunteers to actually plant 4,010 trees at the park site.
Luke
But the players themselves didn't plant the trees, right? About 100 volunteers did that work.
Mimi
Correct. The players' contribution was the walking campaign. The volunteers did the planting. Both were necessary.
Mark
And the walking campaign—was that something players had to do differently, or were they just tracking normal daily movement?
Mimi
It was normal daily movement. People were already walking. The campaign gave that walking a purpose by connecting it to tree-planting.
Luke
So the environmental benefit comes from the trees, not from the walking itself. The walking was just the mechanism to fund or justify the planting.
Mimi
Yes. The walking campaign generated 6.3 billion steps, which the company says prevented 616 tons of CO2 emissions. But the real environmental asset is the forest—4,010 trees that will absorb about 2.67 tons of CO2 annually.
Mark
Is that a meaningful amount of carbon reduction?
Luke
It's real but modest. 2.67 tons annually from a forest of 4,010 trees in a city of 10 million people. It's not nothing, but it's also not transformative.
Mimi
The value might be more symbolic—showing that a gaming company can mobilize its community toward environmental action.
Mark
And the players get what out of this?
Mimi
The forest is open to the public. They can visit it. And there's a commemorative campaign with prizes—autographed boards, in-game currency, plushies.
Luke
So the incentive structure is: walk normally, get entered into a drawing for merchandise and in-game items, and also help plant a forest.
Mimi
That's one way to frame it. Another is that players' everyday activity was given environmental meaning.
O Pulso
- A walking campaign set a goal of 100 million steps — participants delivered 6.3 billion, exceeding the target sixtyfold and generating a carbon reduction equivalent of roughly 616 tons.
- The gap between digital participation and physical impact is the central tension: 530,000 players walked in their daily lives, yet none of them planted a single tree.
- Around 100 volunteers bridged that gap over two days in mid-September, physically planting 4,010 carefully selected trees and shrubs suited to Seoul's urban ecosystem.
- A merchandise fundraising campaign and social media incentives — prizes including voice actor autographs and in-game currency — are designed to keep the community connected to the forest long after opening day.
- The forest now stands as a permanent, free public green space projected to absorb 2.67 tons of CO2 annually, leaving the question open: genuine ecological contribution, or sophisticated environmental marketing?
In Seoul's Yanghwa Hangang Park, a forest has taken root that no single hand can claim to have planted. To mark the sixth anniversary of Genshin Impact, HoYoverse Korea transformed the ordinary steps of 530,000 players into 4,010 living trees — a quiet argument that collective, distributed action can bridge the distance between digital life and ecological consequence. The project asks an old question in a new register: when millions of small, unremarkable acts are gathered and given direction, what becomes possible?
On a September afternoon in Seoul, HoYoverse Korea unveiled a forest built not by any single organization, but by half a million people who had never visited Yanghwa Hangang Park. The Genshin Impact Forest, opened to mark the game's sixth anniversary, represents the accumulated steps of 530,000 players who participated in a walking campaign over recent months — commutes, errands, exercise — converted into environmental action through a partnership with Karrot and Smilegate Hope Studio.
The scale of participation was striking. The campaign, titled "The Neighborhood Walk That the Forest Will Remember," had set a goal of 100 million steps. Participants delivered 6.3 billion. That movement translated into a carbon dioxide reduction effect of approximately 616 tons. The logic was direct: more steps meant more emissions avoided, and those avoided emissions became the justification for planting trees.
The physical forest came together over two days in mid-September, when around 100 volunteers planted 4,010 trees and plants — bridal wreath spiraea, Japanese kerria, plum trees, and Cornelian cherry — species chosen for the park's ecosystem and Seoul's climate. Once established, the grove is projected to absorb roughly 2.67 tons of CO2 annually.
What sets this apart from typical corporate environmental gestures is its reliance on distributed participation. HoYoverse Korea did not simply commission a landscaping firm; it built a mechanism that turned existing player behavior into ecological outcome. A separate merchandise campaign will fund additional planting, and the forest will remain open to the public indefinitely — a permanent green space that exists because 530,000 people walked elsewhere.
To sustain engagement, the company launched a commemorative campaign inviting players to photograph themselves at the forest or post congratulatory videos with designated hashtags by October 25, with prizes including voice actor autographed boards and in-game currency. The incentives collapse the distance between the digital game and the actual trees in Seoul, keeping the forest alive in players' awareness long after the anniversary passes.
On a September afternoon in Seoul, HoYoverse Korea unveiled something unusual: a forest built not by a single organization, but by half a million people who never set foot in Yanghwa Hangang Park. The Genshin Impact Forest, which opened to mark the game's sixth anniversary, represents the accumulated steps of 530,000 players who participated in a walking campaign over recent months. What began as everyday movement—commutes, errands, exercise—converted into environmental action through a partnership between the gaming company, Karrot, and Smilegate Hope Studio.
The scale of participation was striking. The walking campaign, titled "The Neighborhood Walk That the Forest Will Remember," exceeded its original target by a significant margin. Organizers had set a goal of 100 million steps. Participants delivered 6.3 billion instead. That volume of movement translated into measurable environmental impact: the campaign achieved a carbon dioxide reduction effect of approximately 616 tons, according to company figures. The math was straightforward—more steps meant more emissions avoided, and those avoided emissions became the justification for planting trees.
The physical forest itself came together over two days in mid-September. Around 100 volunteers showed up to Yanghwa Hangang Park on the 13th and 20th to plant 4,010 trees and plants. The species list read like a curator's selection: bridal wreath spiraea, Japanese kerria, plum trees, and Cornelian cherry. These were not random choices but plants suited to the park's ecosystem and Seoul's climate. Once established, the forest is projected to absorb approximately 2.67 tons of carbon dioxide annually—a modest but real contribution to air quality in a dense urban area.
What distinguishes this project from typical corporate environmental gestures is its reliance on distributed participation. HoYoverse Korea did not simply write a check and commission a landscaping firm. Instead, the company created a mechanism that turned player behavior into environmental outcome. Walking, which players were already doing, became legible as contribution. Donations from a separate merchandise campaign, "Goods FUNding Where the Forest Grows," will fund additional planting activities aimed at further carbon reduction. The forest itself will remain open to the public indefinitely—anyone can visit Yanghwa Hangang Park and walk among trees that exist because 530,000 people walked elsewhere.
The company framed the forest as the first of its kind: a corporate forest in Hangang Park built by a gaming company. Whether that distinction holds much weight depends on how one measures "built by." The trees were physically planted by 100 volunteers. The walking campaign was organized by HoYoverse Korea in collaboration with partners. The players who accumulated the steps did so as part of their ordinary lives, with the game company providing the framework that made their movement count. It is a model that blurs the line between corporate initiative and distributed action, between environmental marketing and genuine ecological contribution.
To sustain interest and reward participation, HoYoverse Korea launched a commemorative campaign. Players who photograph themselves at the forest or create congratulatory videos and post them on social media with designated hashtags by October 25 enter a drawing for prizes: autographed boards from Genshin Impact voice actors, in-game currency called Genesis Crystals, and postcard sets. The official Genshin Impact Naver Cafe is collecting congratulatory messages until October 4, with large plushies from the game's "Aranara" character series available through a separate draw. These incentives keep the forest in players' awareness and encourage them to visit the physical space, collapsing the distance between the digital game and the actual trees in Seoul.
The Genshin Impact Forest now exists as a permanent feature of Yanghwa Hangang Park. It is free to visit. It will absorb carbon dioxide. It will provide shade and habitat. Whether it endures as a symbol of what gaming communities can accomplish together, or whether it fades into the park's landscape as simply another grove of trees, remains to be seen. For now, it stands as evidence that a company can mobilize millions of people toward environmental action by making that action feel integrated with the activities they already do.
Citações Notáveis
The first corporate forest built by a gaming company in Hangang Park— HoYoverse Korea, describing the Genshin Impact Forest
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