Genshin Impact 7.0 launch record — maintenance and rewards

Updated October 12, 2026

Genshin Impact 7.0 — “Everwinter Without Mercy” launched on 12 August 2026. This is a historical version record. The official update details give a 06:00 (UTC+8) maintenance start and estimated five hours, not a measured server-return minute. Pre-installation and compensation claim periods discussed below have ended.

Historical maintenance window and timezone conversion

The official maintenance preview specified the following historical window:

• Maintenance starts: 06:00 (UTC+8) on 12 August
• Estimated end: around 11:00 (UTC+8), calculated by adding the estimated five hours; actual return minute unverified

That estimated end converts to the evening of 11 August in parts of the Americas. It is a conversion of an estimate, not another source confirming an exact release minute.

Correction, 12 October 2026: this page previously described the calculated 11:00 end as officially confirmed. Both cited official notices say maintenance began at 06:00 and was estimated at five hours. We have withdrawn the exact-unlock claim.

Compensation

The historical maintenance preview listed 300 Primogems for eligible Adventure Rank 5+ accounts; the Update Details added 300 issue-fix Primogems. The issue-fix claim deadline was 15 August at 06:00 (UTC+8), and maintenance compensation had to be claimed before version 7.0 ended. Both periods have passed.

Can you pre-install 7.0?

Historical pre-installation: the 10 August preview said it was available through the Paimon menu or PC launcher before the 12 August update. That period has ended. This page no longer recommends preloading a past version.

Genshin 7.0 banners

• Phase 1 (12 August – 1 September): Odette’s debut runs alongside an Arlecchino rerun, with both signature weapons on the weapon banner. Odette is a 5-star Cryo sword user — prima ballerina of a Fatui theatre troupe in the lore — and the anchor of the new Stellar reaction system: her presence converts the team’s Superconduct and Swirl into their Stellar versions, her skill and burst each summon a dancing shadow that keeps dealing Cryo damage off-field, and holding the special skill lets her take the stage and dance alongside it as an on-field option. A complete rotation at C0, a major all-element shred spike at C2, a main-DPS mode at C6.
• Phase 2 (1 – 22 September): Flins and Ineffa rerun simultaneously, with Fractured Halo and Bloodsoaked Ruins on the weapon side.
• Alyosha — the new 4-star Electro polearm — joins the phase 1 banners alongside Odette and Arlecchino (multiple Chinese roundups of the special program agree on the placement). His burst lays down a field that deals continuous Electro damage, buffs the active character’s attack and Stellar-Conduct damage, and heals the team. He is also obtainable free during the version — CN roundups differ on whether that is through the Snezhnaya main quest or the train-themed event, so treat the in-game notice as final.

The new map: Snezhnaya’s frozen frontier

7.0 opens Snezhnaya’s first region — the areas around Morespok, Snezhnograd and Glupov — with an exploration kit rebuilt for it:

• The subzero mechanic returns — an upgraded take on Dragonspine’s cold gauge: no heat source, rising frost, then damage; campfires and warming items push back
• A moving train serves as a cross-region hub, with puzzles and chests inside the carriages
• An icebreaker ship smashes through frozen seas and opens underwater exploration
• Cryo terrain interaction — freezing lakes and sealing mechanisms to reshape routes

Cryo Traveler and the Stellar reactions

Touching a Statue of The Seven in Snezhnaya unlocks the Cryo Traveler (a lunging ice-sword kit with summoned frost butterflies, and a giant ice lance for the burst) — and a version event hands out a free 5-star signature sword for the Traveler, which levels up as you activate more Snezhnaya statues.

The new Stellar reaction family arrives with it: Stellar-Conduct (Cryo + Electro) deals wide-area Stellar damage and keys into Snezhnaya’s mechanisms; Stellar-Swirl (Cryo + Anemo) spawns a persistent vortex that stacks and detonates — and boosts jump height in the overworld. The Cryo Traveler and Odette are the system’s two core pieces.

The Shadow Realm: third-person shooter segments

Snezhnaya contains a rule-breaking space called the Shadow Realm: goggles on, and the game switches to a third-person shooter mode — elemental ammunition, grenades, slides, crouches and pickable weapon attachments, with a dedicated combat outfit designed for it. A first for the series.

Archon Quest: Chapter VII

The first two acts of Archon Quest Chapter VII ship at launch. The stream confirmed the God of Death’s formal debut, multiple Fatui Harbingers on stage at once, and one heavyweight lore drop: every Snezhnayan is descended from the Tsaritsa.

Weapons, artifacts and freebies

• Five new forgeable weapons — one per weapon class — plus five new Battle Pass weapons in the same version
• Two artifact sets — a Stellar-support set (Odette’s best-in-slot) and a Cryo damage set
• Version events hand out Alyosha (train-themed puzzle event), Diona, a Katheryne doll, and new Imaginarium Theater trails for Childe and Xiao
• The constellation-exchange system adds nine characters, including Lyney, Wriothesley, Navia, Xianyun, Chiori, Sigewinne, Clorinde, Emilie and Yumemizuki Mizuki
• Balance passes for Yumemizuki Mizuki, Qiqi and Sucrose
• Version-limited rewards for completing the new region’s exploration and the Chapter VII Archon Quest during 7.0 — both are use-it-or-lose-it bonuses, per the special program roundups
• A teleport waypoint auto-unlocks on the map at launch, so you can enter Snezhnaya directly without walking the border
• There is no 6.8 — HoYoverse skipped straight from 6.7 to 7.0

Genshin 7.0 codes (expired — the 7.1 stream’s codes have expired too)

The special program on 31 July issued three codes for the international servers — EVERWINTER, ONTOSNEZHNAYA and ODETTE0812 (300 Primogems total) — and they expired on 3 August at 12:00 (UTC+8), as livestream codes always do. We keep them here as a record rather than pretending they never existed. The 7.1 special program aired on 12 September and dropped its own three codes, which expired about 72 hours later, as they always do — the 7.1 page has the record. The next batch arrives with the 7.2 stream.

What is still unconfirmed

• The Tsaritsa as a playable character. Multiple Chinese roundups now explicitly state she is not in 7.0 — community expectation pointed to 7.1 at the earliest, and 7.1’s announced event wishes — Vesna and Vodyanitsa — do not include her. HoYoverse has announced nothing about her; treat every “Tsaritsa banner” claim as speculation.

Genshin 7.0 guides

The content-name questions, answered before launch and verified in-game on day one:

• How to get to Snezhnaya — it’s one teleport
• How to unlock the Cryo Traveler (+ the free 5★ sword)
• Stellar-Conduct and Stellar-Swirl, explained
• The Shadow Realm TPS mode — what it is
• How to get Alyosha free (two routes reported)
• The pre-launch prep checklist — 6 things before maintenance
• Odette, explained — kit and whether to pull

What we will cover on day one

Version day for a game this size produces its own launch-week failure set: the update not appearing on your platform, downloads stalling at 100%, login queues and error codes once servers open. That is what this site does — the launch-week guides show the format. If 7.0 breaks something on the way in, the fix coverage lands here.

Sources

The maintenance window now links to HoYoverse’s official 7.0 maintenance announcement; content details (banners, map, systems) come from the official special program as relayed by the press coverage listed, and are marked accordingly.

• HoYoverse — official Version 7.0 Update Maintenance Preview (06:00 UTC+8 start, ~5h, 300 Primogems, preload open)
• Genshin Impact official — 7.0 maintenance announcement (X)
• HoYoverse — official maintenance preview for the previous version (the schedule pattern)
• Pocket Tactics — Genshin Impact 7.0 update release date press report, not an official statement
• Game8 — Version 7.0 release date and details press report, not an official statement
• KeenGamer — 7.0 update release date and time press report, not an official statement