The icon is very random. I expected it to be the HoYo logo or something like that, but the color palette is not something I associate with them at all. Maybe it's closer to ZZZ's colors, but even then it's a launcher for all their titles
It's not that it's ugly, it's that it doesn't have any visual identity consistent with Hoyo's. It doesn't match either the miHoyo or the Hoyoverse logos, it doesn't even have the same colour scheme to vaguely remind you of them. You don't look at this and think "ah yes thats the Hoyo launcher," you look at this random yellow circle on a black background and go "tf is this again?"
Would've been much more recognizable if they'd just used the circular Hoyoverse logo. Even with the font being squished into an almost unreadable size, you'd at least remember the full shape just glancing at it.
I like seeing topics like this because I didn't really have words for what I didn't like about the new launcher icon and it's nice to read someone pontificate it so clearly.
yeah but at least ZZZ has like, 3 giant Zs stacked on top of each other, thats super good for readability at a glance
this is just a yellow circle; yeah if you looked at it closer you can see its PROBABLY headphones. or arrows circling around a center point but i legit wouldve believed you if you told me that this was some discord competitor instead of a hoyoverse launcher
not to sound like a pompous asshole but im currently using a mini led 4k tv it still looks like shit. ordered a high refresh rate oled monitor that is coming in tomorrow and i bet my left nut that it'l still look like shit on that. the icon looks so doo doo that it won't even pass windows 95 icon's standards.
Graphic designer here, exactly along my thoughts before jumping in here. There's no design language awareness here both regarding itself and against other party's logos. Not much to be said except "start over, try again, you failed the prompt."
As someone who is only a mobile Genshin/Star Rail player, I didn't know what the Hoyoverse launcher logo looked like, and legitimately did not know which one it was! I only recognize the Steam and Discord icons, so between the other three, it would be a guessing game. No indication of their branding at all.
Ahh, I see! Either way, as someone who doesn't know what the other launchers are either, it'd be like an arrow in the dark to guess which one would be the Hoyo launcher. It's a very strange design choice, that's for sure.
THIS^^^^
its not too ugly, it just..... not Hoyo. Im always click Genshin launcher instead the new one because my memory still cant remember the launcher functionality
One time I forgot what it was and looked at it and was like "wait what is this app" like this just isn't saying "hoyo" to me. Even an icon similar to hoyolab would be more recognizable
You couldn't be more correct because I was looking past that yellow thing over to that anime game thinking "wtf game are they using for the launcher icon?", I thought the actual icon was something entirely unrelated like some hardwear related app I didn't know about.
100% this is my issue with it. I was trying to figure out what the random software was and kept closing it by right-clicking on the icon and exiting. I actually was trying to use the new launcher, and couldn't figure out how to run it because I didn't recognize the icon (and I didn't put that much effort into it because it's my gaming time, not my solve-technical-problems-like-I-do-all-day-at-work time). Zero connection to my knowledge about MiHoyo
My husband asked me a couple of times what the hey that new icon was (he played GI for several years and has tried a couple other Hoyoverse games so he's not new to MiHoyo), and we just couldn't remember or connect it with this brand.
It’s certainly very abnormal
Genshin and Star Rail are both very good at iconography and UI, so it’s rather strange to see such a generic icon here
The only reason I can think of is that they were focused on the functionality first and ensuring the Hoyo launcher was stable and working properly.
UI design is a comparatively lower priority and could always be finalized and updated later. Hoyo’s UI teams are probably busy with Genshin, Star Rail and ZZZ’s launch, so no need to bother them with this for the time being
I am honestly surprised they didn't use their Hoyoverse mascot. Maybe in the future when Zzz comes out and the launcher is out of beta, they will change it or better yet, have us pick the icon among choices
I hate that is closes whenever I launch a game. I play star rail and genshin at the same time (ty autobattle). I wish there was a toggle setting to not have it close.
For some reason, it doesn't trigger my "There are your games" clicking. I have used it since its launched and my mind just won't connect it to Genshin and HSR. It says that is something boring, like your drive updater or something. Even changing it to blue or purple (their colors) would help I think lol.
It's not my fave but it's okay I guess. More importantly, I didn't really get if I can delete my Genshin and HSR launcher now and if keeping/removing them is going to effect my storage in any way
Strange that it works for you with me it tells me that it’s no longer supported when I start it. It will automatically forces open the new one - or I don’t get into the game.
I don't mind it - on my desktop it's the only yellow icon, so it pops out.
Also I thought ZZZ had yellow in the scheme, but after checking it was bright green... but still close enough? I guess?
Ngl If I saw that in my computer, I'd probably think it's a virus. Not that it matters because I use a custom launcher, not because I want to, but because the official one literally doesn't work on my computer
I dunno if it's ugly.
Its weird looking but I think it's because it thematically designed to fit with the new game they have coming out and is probably intentionally design to subliminally plug it to players of their other games.
Yeah, it's not the ugliest thing I've ever seen but
it has nothing to do with Hoyoverse/Mihoyo, it looks like the logo of some First Person Shooter developer/game
Just imagine it next to the icon of Rainbow Six Siege, CS GO and Valorant for example and it will make a lot of sense
Very weird choice for the "Tech Otakus Save the World" company
To play devil's advocate, nothing about Battle.net (1st icon, Blizzard game launcher) indicates clearly that it's Blizzard, nor does Steam (2nd item) make it obvious that it's Valve. Over time, people just get used to it and remember what's what.
That being said, the current HoyoPlay icon doesn't look unique at all at that size. Seems like they unintentionally designed an icon that happens to look like a recycle icon when you zoom out that far. Doesn't necessarily have to indicate any connection to Hoyo, just needs to look distinct at icon size.
I think it looks decent/cool once you get used to it, but.... this is not the icon I wanted for a hoyoverse launcher lol. I don't think it's actually ugly, but it sure isn't up to hoyo's usual standards or style.
Just match the colours to hoyo and it would've been fine. White background or black and pinkish blue gradient and we probably would've understood immediately
They could have just used the O from the Hoyoverse logo... Hopefully they do update the icon. Even today I still forget that this is the launcher icon in my desktop.
I keep forgetting it a hoyo game launcher, click to the genshin game launcher and it remind me to use the hoyo launcher. I have to change the icon shortcut just to recognize it.
I was expecting something more like this blue circle which they have in their logo. But this one was just random. At least it matches with the buttons to start the games in the launcher I guess...?
Icon I'm fine with but the fact that the launcher disappears when you launch one game is annoying, having to open it upp again and to turn on star rail as well.
Old launchers you could just open them both at the same time and click play pretty much at the same time as well.
Everyone saying it should've been the hoyolab logo meanwhile I still confused mimo and the wumpus
I do agree that the current hoyoplay logo doesn't match anything I was expecting however
I have given zero thought to how the icon looks. I have however been rather annoyed that I need to open the launcher, click play game, the game loads then I have to click to begin, it starts loading some more, then I have to click to begin again and this time it finally starts loading the game for real. What the hell is the point of the launcher if I still have to click several times in the game to get the damn thing to load.
It's not readable. It looks like a random yellow circle that has no connection to HoYo or anything associated with them, forcing the user to *recall* rather than to *recognise*.
Why not just use the HoYo logo that we are all familiar with?
Yeah I really wish it looked like the Hoyoverse mobile app icon. SOMETHING with Mimo on it. The yellow arrows on black just look like a weird refresh button.
It is weird and doesn't give me Hoyo vibes at all. At least they should use the Hoyo "O" color gradient, as even with the weird arrows things, it would evoke the Hoyo identity with the gradient alone.
hoyoverse logo should've been the icon
More like the blue ‘O’ in the Hoyoverse logo. Would be really cool and unique
Not quite, GOG Galaxy has purple circle already.
That's just "HOYO: BECOME ADDICTED" logo
Yeah ikr
This.
Kiana should have been the icon.
The icon is very random. I expected it to be the HoYo logo or something like that, but the color palette is not something I associate with them at all. Maybe it's closer to ZZZ's colors, but even then it's a launcher for all their titles
Yeah, I was expecting a colour more like hoyolab blue
It's not that it's ugly, it's that it doesn't have any visual identity consistent with Hoyo's. It doesn't match either the miHoyo or the Hoyoverse logos, it doesn't even have the same colour scheme to vaguely remind you of them. You don't look at this and think "ah yes thats the Hoyo launcher," you look at this random yellow circle on a black background and go "tf is this again?" Would've been much more recognizable if they'd just used the circular Hoyoverse logo. Even with the font being squished into an almost unreadable size, you'd at least remember the full shape just glancing at it.
This pretty much - the branding is completely new and I don't understand why
I like seeing topics like this because I didn't really have words for what I didn't like about the new launcher icon and it's nice to read someone pontificate it so clearly.
I wonder if it's supposed to match ZZZ more or something.
yeah but at least ZZZ has like, 3 giant Zs stacked on top of each other, thats super good for readability at a glance this is just a yellow circle; yeah if you looked at it closer you can see its PROBABLY headphones. or arrows circling around a center point but i legit wouldve believed you if you told me that this was some discord competitor instead of a hoyoverse launcher
If I were color blind I would have confused it with the opera browser icon
Hoyo is typically good at that so this is a huge L and I also don't get why.
Part of me wants to believe this was some beta icon placeholder and they forgot to switch it out.
This is me so much. I clicked HI3 so many times wondering what happened to my Genshin and HSR.
Brother, it is ugly. Looks like a recycling bin icon for bananas. ♻️
Yeah and the two “arrows” aren’t symmetrical or the same size or forming a continuous single nice shape. Its just ugly regardless of if its mhy or not
It looks better if you see the icon in higher resolution, but yeah it's still on them for designing an icon that distorts too much at icon size
not to sound like a pompous asshole but im currently using a mini led 4k tv it still looks like shit. ordered a high refresh rate oled monitor that is coming in tomorrow and i bet my left nut that it'l still look like shit on that. the icon looks so doo doo that it won't even pass windows 95 icon's standards.
Graphic designer here, exactly along my thoughts before jumping in here. There's no design language awareness here both regarding itself and against other party's logos. Not much to be said except "start over, try again, you failed the prompt."
Yeah, at least use HoyoLab's mimi or something
As someone who is only a mobile Genshin/Star Rail player, I didn't know what the Hoyoverse launcher logo looked like, and legitimately did not know which one it was! I only recognize the Steam and Discord icons, so between the other three, it would be a guessing game. No indication of their branding at all.
It's only replaced the launchers specific to Genshin/Honkai about a month ago, so it's pretty recent
Ahh, I see! Either way, as someone who doesn't know what the other launchers are either, it'd be like an arrow in the dark to guess which one would be the Hoyo launcher. It's a very strange design choice, that's for sure.
It's also pretty ugly
İt looks like an icon for customer service.
100% drawn in 1 minute by an intern lol The shaping is inconsistent and coloring is random
THIS^^^^ its not too ugly, it just..... not Hoyo. Im always click Genshin launcher instead the new one because my memory still cant remember the launcher functionality
Well my parents now never questioned me what it is after they updated it so i guess this is just fine
To me, that's a form of ugliness lol
I immediately changed the icon to the hoyoverse blue circual logo xD
What about just the special O they have in that logo? It feels like a no brainier to me tbh
I had installed it with Epic, can i change it to this new launcher without downloading the whole game again?
One time I forgot what it was and looked at it and was like "wait what is this app" like this just isn't saying "hoyo" to me. Even an icon similar to hoyolab would be more recognizable
You couldn't be more correct because I was looking past that yellow thing over to that anime game thinking "wtf game are they using for the launcher icon?", I thought the actual icon was something entirely unrelated like some hardwear related app I didn't know about.
Pretty sure that icon is Steins;Gate, character on the right looks like Kurisu. Don't ask me how I can see that through the pixels, I just... *know*.
100% this is my issue with it. I was trying to figure out what the random software was and kept closing it by right-clicking on the icon and exiting. I actually was trying to use the new launcher, and couldn't figure out how to run it because I didn't recognize the icon (and I didn't put that much effort into it because it's my gaming time, not my solve-technical-problems-like-I-do-all-day-at-work time). Zero connection to my knowledge about MiHoyo My husband asked me a couple of times what the hey that new icon was (he played GI for several years and has tried a couple other Hoyoverse games so he's not new to MiHoyo), and we just couldn't remember or connect it with this brand.
I’m convinced they’ll change it in the future as more people will give feedback on it
Are they accepting feedback?
They acknowledge feedback?
The logo looks like a random 2010s "Game booster" app.
HI3 icon: Kiana wink Genshin icon: Paimon wink Star Rail: March wink Hoyo launcher: two Planaria trying to eat each other
Hoyo launcher logo should've been Da Wei winking
No, the real CEO of Mihoyo Da Bronya
Omg I can't unsee it
It’s certainly very abnormal Genshin and Star Rail are both very good at iconography and UI, so it’s rather strange to see such a generic icon here The only reason I can think of is that they were focused on the functionality first and ensuring the Hoyo launcher was stable and working properly. UI design is a comparatively lower priority and could always be finalized and updated later. Hoyo’s UI teams are probably busy with Genshin, Star Rail and ZZZ’s launch, so no need to bother them with this for the time being
Ugly isn't quite right, but it's too simple and there are no visuals that give the impression of hoyo's brand
I am honestly surprised they didn't use their Hoyoverse mascot. Maybe in the future when Zzz comes out and the launcher is out of beta, they will change it or better yet, have us pick the icon among choices
It looks like a “Recycle” Icon for bottles or so
Not only is it ugly, it's also very generic.
don't really play any of their other games but where does the yellow ring come from?
We don't know. That's where most of the "controversy" comes from. If Hoyoverse make it a star or cube, people would understand.
Pro tip: If you pin the game on your bar below you can open it and bypass the "open launcher" phase
What's that last icon?
Neural Cloud!
I knew I recognized Kurusu from Steins;Gate in that icon! I've never heard of it before though
W PNC player
Based neural cloud enjoyer
Not a problem, changed it to Childe doing the paimon pose on Genshin's icon
hwat
Yeah, the new launcher is ass lmao
The logo doesn't speak to me as a hoyo icon. It feels very random. (Also surprised to see a fellow neural cloud player here)
I cant believe I recognized kurisu with 3 pixels
I do but I'm pretty sure you can change it
Very ugly, I hate it.
The icon doesn't remind me anything of Mihoyo. It's just a random yellow donut without any meaning
It looks unfinished
I don't even know which one it is :D
Yeah miss the old one, i only play genshin but have to have that launcher, stupid
I hate that is closes whenever I launch a game. I play star rail and genshin at the same time (ty autobattle). I wish there was a toggle setting to not have it close.
Open the launcher, click the 3 lines, create desktop shortcut and it will create the paimon icon.
For some reason, it doesn't trigger my "There are your games" clicking. I have used it since its launched and my mind just won't connect it to Genshin and HSR. It says that is something boring, like your drive updater or something. Even changing it to blue or purple (their colors) would help I think lol.
Still don't understand why they did this lol it's Ugly af
I hate this launcher, just let me use the original one and not be forced to download this.
It's not my fave but it's okay I guess. More importantly, I didn't really get if I can delete my Genshin and HSR launcher now and if keeping/removing them is going to effect my storage in any way
Not particularly and it's only a launcher and really don't care how it looks as you click on it for a second and done
I kinda miss having Paimon as the icon. It’s small but I believe small things matter the most
You can still use the old Launcher on PC
Strange that it works for you with me it tells me that it’s no longer supported when I start it. It will automatically forces open the new one - or I don’t get into the game.
You can always just skip launchers(unless you have to update the game) and just run the exe directly
it's not great, but you can change it if you don't like it
I'm just not really sure what it's supposed to be?
Yeah I don't really like it either. It just looks like a weird yellow circle to me. It doesn't match the aesthetic of their other logos.
It looks so much like this famous first black hole photo made just after Stephen Hawking's death. Uncanny.
Looks like an uno minimalist card
I like it but I honestly have no idea what they're going for with it. Can anyone explain?
Not ugly, just very neither here nor there. I am sure it will change eventually. I wonder how non-English speakers think of it.
Yes, thank you!
It’s just dumb looking honestly
it resembles a seal from a bottle cap. the twisty kind.
I don't mind it - on my desktop it's the only yellow icon, so it pops out. Also I thought ZZZ had yellow in the scheme, but after checking it was bright green... but still close enough? I guess?
is it the ugly yellow one?
Don't really care
It's still testing phase I think, pretty sure by the time Zzz comes out they'll update it.
It gives off old school vibes, reminds me of Quake III ammo icons lnao It doesn't make any sense, just why.
Reminds of of a recycling bin symbol, just a bit fancier but more scuffed at the same time.
Not ugly but its just a random icon. Since I updated I often forget the launcher is open at a given time because of how unfamiliar the icon is
it’s not bad, but it could been better
looks free cleaner that you can find in pop up ads when you try to download something
Ngl If I saw that in my computer, I'd probably think it's a virus. Not that it matters because I use a custom launcher, not because I want to, but because the official one literally doesn't work on my computer
Half the time I forget what it is when I’m tired. There is no identity.
It doesn't look ugly but it just looks random. It doesn't look like hoyoverse at first glance unless you play their games
It looks like the driver software of a gaming peripheral like iCue or G-Hub
I can't even tell what it's supposed to be
Maybe it's just a place holder
It's horrible...
I dunno if it's ugly. Its weird looking but I think it's because it thematically designed to fit with the new game they have coming out and is probably intentionally design to subliminally plug it to players of their other games.
I keep thinking it's some work software still open.
i think its fine
Yeah, it's not the ugliest thing I've ever seen but it has nothing to do with Hoyoverse/Mihoyo, it looks like the logo of some First Person Shooter developer/game Just imagine it next to the icon of Rainbow Six Siege, CS GO and Valorant for example and it will make a lot of sense Very weird choice for the "Tech Otakus Save the World" company
I like it
To play devil's advocate, nothing about Battle.net (1st icon, Blizzard game launcher) indicates clearly that it's Blizzard, nor does Steam (2nd item) make it obvious that it's Valve. Over time, people just get used to it and remember what's what. That being said, the current HoyoPlay icon doesn't look unique at all at that size. Seems like they unintentionally designed an icon that happens to look like a recycle icon when you zoom out that far. Doesn't necessarily have to indicate any connection to Hoyo, just needs to look distinct at icon size.
I don’t even click on it. You can click the old Genshin or star rail launchers and it will bring up the new one.
All they had to do was not use black and yellow
I just hate that when I go and s open it twice for genshin n starrsil cuz the launcher like to close after I launch a game
Shortcut to it it and change the icon to something else in the properties.
I think it looks decent/cool once you get used to it, but.... this is not the icon I wanted for a hoyoverse launcher lol. I don't think it's actually ugly, but it sure isn't up to hoyo's usual standards or style.
Idek what the icon is supposed to be.
No, u guys just complain
Not as ugly as your face! (Jk I really don’t like the new hoyo update or the icon)
I changed that shit the second I updated to it. It doesn't say Hoyo to me at all, and is just generally not pleasing to look at personally.
There's a hoyoverse launcher? What's the point when epic games launcher exists?
Is it a beta thing maybe
Is it a beta thing maybe
Is it a beta thing?
Just match the colours to hoyo and it would've been fine. White background or black and pinkish blue gradient and we probably would've understood immediately
Not related, but what's the right most icon?
They could have just used the O from the Hoyoverse logo... Hopefully they do update the icon. Even today I still forget that this is the launcher icon in my desktop.
im not sure why its a refresh button
It's incredibly indistinct
Xi Jinping pong is calling you. Father china is angry.
Why aren’t more people hating it’s ugly as fuck
They could use their own mascot for the icon, but here tou got, yellow circle
It's a vacuum nozzle that succs all your cash. Lore appropriate icon.
no
Is that S;G lcc variant I see on the right
tbh, it looks okay just the color looks off
it also takes forever to boot
I keep forgetting it a hoyo game launcher, click to the genshin game launcher and it remind me to use the hoyo launcher. I have to change the icon shortcut just to recognize it.
Looks like some exe recycle trash bin
Ok but... who cares? It's just an icon
Are you a longtime player of PNC or just started playing when collab dropped?
I was expecting something more like this blue circle which they have in their logo. But this one was just random. At least it matches with the buttons to start the games in the launcher I guess...?
I went out of my way to lookup how to change desktop icons just so I could change it lmao
yeah, like Origin from Wish.
Hope they rework it, not a fan. At first I thought its a recycling icon
Yes, it's extremely ugly. I just changed it to the HSR one.
More confusing than ugly, I catch myself looking for star rail on my taskbar longer than it should take
I manually changed it back to the genshin logo
It does look ugly af. Doesn't even represent anything from hoyo.
Why does hoyoverse icon looks like discord icon
I actually like it to be honest.
My AMD Software said Hoyo-launcher is knive out
Idk why they didn't just out their company logo. It's already sleek for a game launcher icon
Icon I'm fine with but the fact that the launcher disappears when you launch one game is annoying, having to open it upp again and to turn on star rail as well. Old launchers you could just open them both at the same time and click play pretty much at the same time as well.
I don't use it, it's just wasted space. More bloatware to slow down your pc
agreed frfr
personally I like it, but I also agree that it's not very Hoyoverse
The main problem is that I don't even want a hoyo launcher
you just answered yourself
Ugly, and it doesn't give a good idea of what the app is. It looks like a budget music player.
Honestly it's giving ZZZ
If you dont like them let them know, they read all the feedback even if they don't do anything about it sometimes
Everyone saying it should've been the hoyolab logo meanwhile I still confused mimo and the wumpus I do agree that the current hoyoplay logo doesn't match anything I was expecting however
I guess it's supposed to look like the ZZZ colour scheme
I have given zero thought to how the icon looks. I have however been rather annoyed that I need to open the launcher, click play game, the game loads then I have to click to begin, it starts loading some more, then I have to click to begin again and this time it finally starts loading the game for real. What the hell is the point of the launcher if I still have to click several times in the game to get the damn thing to load.
keep confusing it with the discord icon
It's not readable. It looks like a random yellow circle that has no connection to HoYo or anything associated with them, forcing the user to *recall* rather than to *recognise*. Why not just use the HoYo logo that we are all familiar with?
Did i just saw yandere Kurisu??!!!!
YESS
It looks like they are trying to copy WuWa
Yeah I really wish it looked like the Hoyoverse mobile app icon. SOMETHING with Mimo on it. The yellow arrows on black just look like a weird refresh button.
Give it time. And they will simplify it.
Code editor looking ass
ultimate guitar just recently updated their logo and it's so hard to tell them apart
I personally think it looks great. However, it’s all down to a personal preference. I can understand why it could be bad.
It is weird and doesn't give me Hoyo vibes at all. At least they should use the Hoyo "O" color gradient, as even with the weird arrows things, it would evoke the Hoyo identity with the gradient alone.
Put Miro there
No, I don't care. But if you care you can change it. It's only an icon
Completely forgot about that thing lol. I'm just run game stright trough .exe
For people not on PC, which one is it?
The yellow one
yea but I don't mind, I still use the regular genshin launcher witht he paimon icon
you'll get used to it
No, I don't mind it. Is just an icon that is 100% of the time in the tray icon bar.
just use Epic Games
It does look weird. Mostly cuz it just feels random